Microbial Genome Sequencing: Gene Ontology Terms for Standardized Annotation of Plant-Associated Microbe Genomes

各种各样的微生物生活在植物组织上或植物组织中，包括细菌、真菌、线虫和被称为卵菌的类似真菌的生物。所有这些微生物，无论是有益的还是致病的，都已经发展出中和植物用来保护自己免受感染的防御系统的机制。了解这些不同的微生物攻击植物的方式的相似性将有助于我们了解植物对感染的脆弱性，这反过来将有助于设计新的有效方法来控制植物病害。目前，专注于各种植物病原微生物的基因组计划正在发现大量微生物可能用来攻击植物的基因。然而，由于这些基因组计划是在不同的研究社区进行的，用于描述基因功能的术语差异如此之大，以至于很难比较不同微生物中基因的功能。该项目将建立一套标准化的术语，称为基因本体论，用于描述生活在植物中或植物上的微生物所使用的基因的功能，包括病原微生物。建立术语的工作将与基因本体论联盟合作进行，基因本体论联盟是一组机构，参与创建标准化术语来描述活着的有机体中基因的所有功能。这项工作的更广泛影响将是建立一种手段，极大地促进研究植物相关微生物的研究人员之间的信息交流。这项工作对研究动物和人类微生物相互作用的研究人员也有价值。许多不同研究界的成员将通过培训讲习班、实习、在会议上的陈述和在线培训文件，接受使用标准化术语的培训。培训将侧重于研究生、博士后研究员和初级教员，特别是那些少数民族或来自本科院校的人。有关标准化术语的信息也将被纳入研究生和本科生的课程。该项目由国家科学基金和农业部合作研究、教育和推广服务的国家研究倡议共同支持。

A wide diversity of microbes live on or in the tissues of plants, including bacteria, fungi, nematodes and fungus-like organisms called oomycetes. All of these microbes, whether beneficial or pathogenic (disease-causing), have developed mechanisms to neutralize the defense systems used by plants to protect themselves against infection. Understanding the similarities in the ways these diverse microbes attack plants will help us understand the vulnerabilities of plants to infection, which will in turn help design new and effective methods for controlling plant disease. Currently, genome projects focused on a variety of plant pathogenic microbes are uncovering large numbers of genes that the microbes may use to attack plants. However, because these genome projects are going on in different research communities, the terminology that is used to describe the functions of the genes varies so much that it is very difficult to compare the functions of genes in the different microbes. This project will establish a standardized set of terms, called a Gene Ontology, for describing the functions of genes used by microbes that live in or on plants, including pathogenic microbes. The work of establishing the terms will be carried out in collaboration with the Gene Ontology Consortium, which is a group of institutions involved in creating standardized terms for describing all the functions of genes in living organisms.The broader impact of this work will be to establish a means for greatly facilitating the exchange of information among researchers studying plant-associated microbes. The work will also be of value to researchers studying animal- and human-microbe interactions. Members of many different research communities will be trained in the use of the standardized terms, through training workshops, internships, presentations at meetings, and on-line training documents. Training will emphasize graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty, especially those who are minorities, or are from undergraduate institutions. Information about the standardized terms will also be incorporated into courses for graduate and undergraduate students.This project is being supported through a collaboration of the National Science Foundation and the National Research Initiative of the Cooperative Research, Education, and Extension Service of the Department of Agriculture.