From Seed to Seed: Genome-wide Expression Analysis of Arabidopsis throughout Its Life Cycle

Institute For Genomic Research, Rockville MD

Investigators

Abstract

Arabidopsis thaliana is a plant model organism that has become a major research tool for plant Biologists. A primary motivation for the sequencing of Arabidopsis was that it would serve as a reference for other plant genomes. For this to be realized the functions of a large number of unknown and hypothetical genes must be deduced and a cross-reference between genes in Arabidopsis and other plant species provided. Ultimately, the development of the data resources will lead to a better understanding of gene expressions and function in plants. Predicted genes will be amplified and used to construct a whole genome microarray that will be used to look at patterns of gene express through the plant life cycle. Expressions data can help provide both functional assignments for genes and used in identifying metabolic pathways. The data will be analyzed using a suite of clustering and pattern recognition tool. A number of databases will be combined and integrated to provide a web-based view of gene expression and identification in Arabidopsis.