Plant & Animal Genome VI Conference

W67

COMPARATIVE MAPPING DISPLAYS IN RICEGENES FOR THE ANALYSIS OF QTL ACROSS GRASS GENOMES

Department of Plant Breeding, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853

The ability to view data in different and complementary ways can provide researchers with new insights into basic scientific questions. Databases make it possible to access large amounts of data easily and the manipulation of database displays offers opportunities for novel synthesis of disparate types of data. One area in which innovative display tools can be used productively is comparative genome analysis, particularly among the grasses. In the RiceGenes database, displays are available for the visualization of homoeologous segments between rice and maize, rice and oat, and rice and Triticeae, all overlaid on the rice consensus map. Each grass species is also represented by its own genetic map display, portraying regions sharing conserved gene order with rice. Most recently, displays have been developed allowing users of RiceGenes to view QTL and homoeology information simultaneously. For example, a user can see the location of a rice yield QTL and simultaneously assess whether the chromosomal region containing the QTL is conserved in other grass species. If so, the user may move seamlessly to a display of the alternate grass species (i.e., maize) to see if a QTL for a similar trait has been reported in the homoeologous region. Utilization of these displays will allow researchers to diagnose similarities and differences in chromosome structure and gene content among species that are not readily apparent.