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International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) DAPO 7777 Metro Manila, Philippines
Contact r.bruskiewich@cgiar.org
The International Rice Information System (IRIS, www.iris.irri.org) is the rice implementation of The International Crop Information System (ICIS, www.cgiar.org/icis), a database system for the management and integration of global information on genetic resources and crop improvement for any crop. Ambiguous germplasm identification, difficulty in tracing pedigree information and lack of integration between genetic resources, characterization, breeding, evaluation and utilization data have been identified as major constraints in developing knowledge intensive crop improvement programs. ICIS is being developed to address these constraints by genetic resource specialists, crop scientists and information technicians in several centers of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and in National Agricultural Research Systems. The Genealogy Management System (GMS) is the core database which ensures unique identification of germplasm, management of nomenclature (including homonyms and synonyms) and retention of all germplasm development information. The GMS links germplasm with characterization and evaluation data in the Data Management System, and a trait ontology with a controlled vocabulary ensures integration of information across different studies. New components are now being added to the database to handle the diversity of rice functional genomics data including genomic sequence data, molecular genetic data, expression data and proteomic information. Stand-alone programs and web interfaces offer specialist applications and customized views to researchers with different interests. Breeders’ applications facilitate crop improvement tasks, map view and gene view facilitate molecular biology and the mutant view provides a workbench for functional genomics. The evolving crop information system will be invaluable for all researchers working on all aspects of rice biology, who will benefit from access to the latest international information linked unambiguously to specific germplasm. Just as these scientists have participated in the global exchange of genetic resources through the CGIAR’s extensive networks, IRIS will allow them to benefit from, and participate in the development and deployment of new, knowledge-intensive, crop improvement systems that link information to the seeds being exchanged.
Commissioning of new WWW site at http://www.iris.irri.org
The members of the International Crop Information Systems (ICIS; http://www.cgiar.org/icis) community.
Category Genomic Databases
