Plant Genome Database Japan (PGDBj), a Comprehensive Database Covering Information of Plant Genome-Related Databases in Japan

Plant molecular genetic and genomic research in Japan has resulted in outstanding achievements in the past few decades, and is recognized internationally. The outcome of the research has been published in high impact journals and related genome structural and functional information has been made available through public databases. However, each project typically has its own database comprising various types of information, such as DNA sequences, transcriptome, protein, metabolite and phenotypic data. Moreover, these data have resulted from studies of various plant species, including both model and crop species. At present, the numerous plant genome databases in Japan are not sufficiently unified, do not have enough international presence, and the lack of a central organization is confusing for users. For example, DNA marker and linkage map information is in many cases only described in the literature, making it difficult for researchers in the field to access the necessary data.

We aim to solve these problems by promoting the following topics and to unite them, under the support of the National Bioscience Database Center (NBDC) of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST):

1. Construction of a gene ortholog database and integration of plant genome databases (DBs).
2. Integration of plant genome DBs with DNA marker and linkage map information.
3. Integration of plant resource databases.
4. Construction of a cross search system of PGDBj.