TAIR: The Arabidopsis Information Resource

Carnegie Institution Of Washington, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

The Carnegie Institute of Washington is awarded a grant to develop an existing model organism database into a resource for comparative plant genomics. The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) provides online access to genomic data for the reference plant Arabidopsis thaliana to over 35,000 plant biology researchers worldwide each month. Data housed in this resource include Arabidopsis gene structure and function data gathered from the extensive research literature for this plant which can be applied to better understand the genetic basis for traits in other plants, including food, feed and bioenergy crop species as well as ecologically important plant species. To promote such understanding and make the transfer of knowledge from Arabidopsis to other plant species more efficient, the project will modify the existing database and website to store and display genomic data from other plants and provide tools to compare genome maps, nucleotide and protein sequences, and orthologous genes from other plant genomes. The proposed work will also expand a pilot project in which academic journals partner with TAIR to efficiently incorporate newly discovered gene function data into the database, increasing the availability and impact of the new results. Understanding basic plant biology is essential to meeting current and future worldwide food and energy needs. TAIR serves as a foundational component of the plant biology research and education infrastructure, providing access to fundamental plant biology datasets and tools for students and researchers at institutions of all types and sizes across the United States and around the globe. An email-based help desk handles over a thousand questions per year ranging from requests for basic plant biology facts by high school students and undergraduates to requests for highly specialized custom datasets from graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. An extensive outreach program includes conference workshops, tutorials and online help. TAIR can be accessed at http://arabidopsis.org.