Extending Tripal for Specialized Display and Management of Diversity and Breeding Data

Tripal is a freely available, open-source construction toolkit for community-focused, biological data web portals. The growing need to associate genomic data with germplasm both to characterize the natural diversity existing in crop species and also to leverage this diversity for variety improvement brings up the question of how best to integrate these data. Tripal has thus been extended to meet this need through development of a number of independent modules which include support for genotypic data, germplasm collections and crossing experiments. Highlighted functionality includes a germplasm by marker grid for display of genotypes where each researcher dynamically chooses the germplasm of interest, as well as, an intuitive display of germplasm pedigree information. Additionally, specialized forms for data entry and a default loading template for genotypic data facilitate data entry. Furthermore, development of modules for phenotypic data, genetic maps, quantitative trait loci and phylogenies are already underway. This suite of modules will provide breeding and diversity communities with enough common functionality to develop tailored data web portals in a shorter period and with fewer resources.