The National Plant Genome Initiative: Objectives for 2003-2008

国家植物基因组计划于1998财政年度启动，是一项探索植物基因组结构和功能的长期项目。其目标是确保能够了解、改进并最终利用植物的有用特性来满足国家的需求，包括农业、营养、能源、环境和健康。在该项目启动期间，制定了一个五年计划来指导该项目。到目前为止，该项目已经取得了重大进展，NPGI必须开始制定下一阶段的目标。为了向这一规划过程提供投入，国家研究委员会将成立一个由基因组学、植物生物学、信息学和其他相关科学领域的专家组成的研究小组。研究小组将组织一个为期3天的研讨会，以：(1)确定在未来五年内可能得到答案的关键科学问题；(2)考虑该计划中额外测序、功能基因组学和蛋白质组学的相对优先级；(3)研究利用现有的或新兴的生物信息学和生物工具的潜力；(4)描述成功解决研讨会参与者确定的关键科学问题所需的工具、基础设施和人力资源。在研讨会之后，该研究小组将撰写一份报告，总结其对关键科学方向的评估，并建议未来五年植物基因组计划的优先事项。该报告将在网上发布。报告将于二零零二年八月底提交。

The National Plant Genome Initiative was launched in FY1998 as a long-term project to explore the structure and function of plant genomes. Its goals are to ensure that useful properties of plants can be understood, improved, and ultimately harnessed to address national needs, including agriculture, nutrition, energy, environment, and health. A five-year plan was developed to guide the program during its inauguration.The program has made significant progress to date, and the NPGI must begin to develop objectives for its next phase. To provide input to this planning process, the National Research Council will form a study group consisting of experts in genomics, plant biology, informatics, and other relevant fields of science. The study group will organize a 3 day workshop to: (1) identify key scientific questions that might be answered in the next five years; (2) consider the relative priorities of additional sequencing, functional genomics and proteomics within the initiative; (3) examine the potential to use bioinformatics and biological tools that are available or emerging, and; (4) describe the tools, infrastructure, and human resources that are needed to successfully address key scientific questions identified by the workshop participants.Following the workshop, the study group will write a report summarizing its assessment of the key scientific directions and recommending priorities for the plant genome initiative for the next five years. The report will be published and made available on the web. The report will be delivered by the end of August 2002.