Application of bioinformatics in plant breeding

The goal of plant genomics is to understand the genetic and molecular basis of all biological processes in plants that are relevant to the specie. This understanding is fundamental to allow efficient exploitation of plants as biological resources in the development of new cultivars with improved quality and reduced economic and environmental costs. This knowledge is also vital for the development of new plant diagnostic tools. Traits considered of primary interest are, pathogen and abiotic stress resistance, quality traits for plant, and reproductive traits determining yield. A genome program can now be envisioned as a highly important tool for plant improvement. Such an approach to identify key genes and understand their function will result in a "quantum leap" in plant improvement. Additionally, the ability to examine gene expression will allow us to understand how plants respond to and interact with the physical environment and management practices. This information, in conjunction with appropriate technology, may provide predictive measures of plant health and quality and become part of future breeding decision management systems. Current genome programs generate a large amount of data that will require processing, storage and distribution to the multinational research community. The data include not only sequence information, but information on mutations, markers, maps, functional discoveries, etc. Key objectives for plant bioinformatics include: to encourage the submission of all sequence data into the public domain, through repositories, to provide rational annotation of genes, proteins and phenotypes, and to elaborate relationships both within the plants' data and between plants and other organisms.