Databases and Systems

DISSEMINATION TO EXTERNAL DATABASES
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Linking information is provided to SwissProt, to GRIN, and to EMBL, and to the
Entrez-Genome division associated with GenBank. Mapping coordinates are placed
into our public ftp file, and the Entrez-Genome division is notified when there is an
update. The AceDB format for the database is submitted to the central server for
Plant Genome Databases at the National Agricultural library.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The Plant Genome Database suite maintained by the USDA-ARS, and others both in
the US and international locations are looking towards combining sequence
computation with graphical displays of data return that can represent both intra- and
inter-specific data. Inter-specific genome and germplasm queries will be greatly
enhanced by access to common controlled vocabularies, and metabolic databases,
both inter-plant and inter-all-genomes. At MaizeDB, we anticipate enhancing useraccess
to the data using menu-driven, user-defined table constructions. Instead of
retrieving a list of loci with tassel phenotypes, one might specify a list of the loci, any
PCR primers for nearby sites, gene products, GenBank accessions, the map bins. In
the near future, we anticipate an onslaught of highly structured data from enhanced
funding for crop plant genomes, both US and international.
REFERENCES:
1. Emerson, R. A. 1923 Letter. from files of E. H. Coe, University of Missouri-
Columbia MO 652 1 1.
2.
3.
4.
Emerson, R.A., Beadle, G. W. and A. E. Fraser. 1935. A summary of linkage
studies in maize.Cornell Univ. Agric. Exp. Stn. Memoir 180:1-83.
Letovsky, S. and M. Berlyn. 1994. Issues in the development of complex
scientific databases. Proceedings of the 27 th
Annual Hawaii International
Conference on System Sciences.
Byrne, P. F., M. Berlyn, E.H. Coe, G. Davis, M. Polacco, D. C. Hancock 1995.
Reporting and accessing QTL information in USDA’s Maize Genome Database.
J. Quant. Trait Loci 1995:1-3