The  “Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance” (GIGA) has been formed to promote and advance genome sequencing of the "invertebrates", which comprise over 95% of animal species diversity on our planet.

This Zenodo community collects open access publications, datasets, software etc. by the GIGA community of scientists to facilitate information exchange.

Over 95% of all metazoan (animal) species comprise the “invertebrates,” but very few genomes from these organisms have been sequenced. We have, therefore, formed a “Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance” (GIGA). Our intent is to build a collaborative network of diverse scientists to tackle major challenges (e.g., species selection, sample collection and storage, sequence assembly, annotation, analytical tools) associated with genome/transcriptome sequencing across a large taxonomic spectrum. We aim to promote standards that will facilitate comparative approaches to invertebrate genomics and collaborations across the international scientific community. Candidate study taxa include species from Porifera, Ctenophora, Cnidaria, Placozoa, Mollusca, Arthropoda, Echinodermata, Annelida, Bryozoa, and Platyhelminthes, among others. GIGA will target 7000 noninsect/nonnematode species, with an emphasis on marine taxa because of the unrivaled phyletic diversity in the oceans. Priorities for selecting invertebrates for sequencing will include, but are not restricted to, their phylogenetic placement; relevance to organismal, ecological, and conservation research; and their importance to sheries and human health. We highlight bene ts of sequencing both whole genomes (DNA) and transcriptomes and also suggest policies for genomic-level data access and sharing based on transparency and inclusiveness. The GIGA Web site (http://www.giga-cos.org) has been launched to facilitate this collaborative venture. 

Abstract taken from the GIGA White-paper

The Global Invertebrate Genomics Alliance (GIGA): Developing Community Resources to Study Diverse Invertebrate Genomes 

GIGA Community of Scientists

Journal of Heredity 2014:105(1):1–18 

doi:10.1093/jhered/est084