RCN: An International Arabidopsis Informatics Consortium

- 模式植物拟南芥作为所有种子植物物种的参考生物体发挥着独特和重要的作用。该项目将建立一个研究协调网络，将导致信息学工具和资源的发展，特别是拟南芥和植物生物学一般。 这将是一个开放的网络，旨在吸引美国和国际拟南芥社区的广泛代表。拟南芥的研究正处于一个关键的路口，一个广泛的新的数据类型正在成为可用的，和社区？解决重要问题的能力取决于对这些数据的整合、可视化和分析。不同的研究小组正在发明新的信息学方法，因此社区需要一种机制来识别，探索，促进和增强这些资源。该项目将促进美国和国际研究人员协调数据生成，分析和可视化的方式发生根本性变化。该项目的目标如下：1）拟南芥数据存储和显示标准的发展，2）为美国和国际社会开发拟南芥信息学工具和资源的计划的发展，3）建立一个国际拟南芥信息学联盟，该联盟将建立在该项目中产生的活动和资源的基础上，（4）建立一个网站，作为感兴趣的科学家和公众的资源。更广泛的影响：通过协调拟南芥信息学的努力，该项目将推进植物生物学，为研究和教育创造新的机会，并导致国际拟南芥信息学联盟的建立和发展。拟南芥社区今天面临的问题也将挑战其他社区，这种协调的国际方法来利用跨国界的信息学资源应该为这些社区提供一个例子（和资源）。从这一应用中学到的经验将对整个生物学产生广泛的影响，特别是对于数据正在发生类似扩展的作物，并且通常可以建立在拟南芥中开创的努力之上。在这个项目中开发的资源将被广泛和免费提供，并将是有用的学生和研究人员在各种规模的教育机构，为行业，并为公众。

-------------------------The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana plays a unique and essential role as the reference organism for all seed plant species. This project will establish a Research Coordination Network that will lead to the development of informatics tools and resources for Arabidopsis in particular and for plant biology in general. It will be an open network that aims to draw in a broad cross-section of the US and international Arabidopsis communities. Arabidopsis research is at a critical junction; a broad range of new data types are becoming available, and the community?s ability to address important questions depends on the integration, visualization and analysis of these data. Diverse research groups are inventing new informatics approaches and thus the community needs a mechanism by which to identify, explore, promote, and enhance these resources. This project will catalyze a radical change in the way in which US and international researchers coordinate data generation, analysis and visualization. This project has the following goals: 1) The development of standards for Arabidopsis data deposition and display, 2) Development of a plan to develop Arabidopsis informatics tools and resources for the US and international communities, 3) Establishment of an International Arabidopsis Informatics Consortium that will build upon the activities and resources that will be generated in this project, 4) Establishment of a website as a resource for interested scientists and the general public. Broader Impacts: Through the coordination of Arabidopsis informatics efforts, this project will advance plant biology, create novel opportunities for research and education, and lead to the establishment and growth of an International Arabidopsis Informatics Consortium. The problems that the Arabidopsis community is facing today will also challenge other communities, and this type of coordinated international approach to leveraging informatics resources across borders should provide an example (and resources) for such communities. Experiences learned from this application will have a broad impact across biology, particularly for crop plants for which a similar expansion in data is occurring and which often can build on efforts pioneered in Arabidopsis. The resources developed in this project will be widely and freely available and will be useful for students and researchers at educational institutions of all sizes, for industry, and for the public.