Integration of Databases for Functional Rice Genomics by Using Agents

The current trend in biology research is evolving from structural genomics to functional genomics. In the field of rice research, using an insertional mutant is a powerful method for finding gene functions. However, a well-designed database using insertional mutant data is not available yet in the area of rice functional genomics. The relevant data are widely distributed and independently managed by the individual research groups such as NCBI, IRGSP, and TIGR. The heterogeneous data format in the distributed database systems causes many problems related to redundancy and compatibility. In this research, integration of the distributed databases using the agent technology is pursued, and a framework for the web-based information system is proposed. To establish an interoperable data format, an XMLbased data model is developed adopting the ontology concept. Finally, a web-based information system is also developed, which provides information to biologists and permits them to add new data to the database.