Plant Genome III Conference Plant Genome III Conference
As grass genome projects generate more (and increasingly complex) information, informatics ceases to be a luxury. Indeed, certain kinds of data (e.g., synteny and Physical roap3) are already very difficult to represent without database technology. Simplified and inexpensive software has rode it relatively easy to create a database and connect it to the world wide web-and thus to all other WWW information, including GenBank, AGRICOLA, GRIN, germplasm stock centers, and much more. The grass community has made significant progress in the area of informatics over the past two years. Online, public dates now exit for three grasses: RiceGenes (rice; S. McCouch), GrainGenes (Triticeae; 0. Anderson), and MaizeDB (maize; E. Coe), SorghumDB, a database for Sorghum bicolor, is under development (K. Schertz) and a database is in the planning stage for millet (M. Gale). The Genome Informatics Group at the National Agricultural Library is now prototyping methods for integrating these resources into a single "GrassDB".