Rice at the forefront of plant genome informatics.

As rice genomicsdata continue to accumulate at a rapid rate, are becoming more valuable to warehouse and access large and rigorous data sets. This article gives an overview of available resources on rice bioinformatics and their role in elucidating and propagating biological and genomic information in rice. Of particular focus here is the informatics infrastructure developed at the Rice Genome Research Program (RGP) following an extensive rice genome analysis. The database named INE (Integrated Rice Genome Explorer) integrates the genetic and physical mapping information with the genome sequence being generated in collaboration with the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP). Database links are initially evaluated using an interoperable query tool to explore and compare data across the rice and maize genome databases and potential application to multiple crop database querying. A proposed logistics for interlinking these resources is presented to integrate, manipulate and analyze information on the rice genome. One of the biggest challenges of rice bioinformatics lies in the emerging role of rice as a model system among grass crop species. In view of the importance of comparative genetics in the formulation of new knowledge on plant genomes and genes, comparative bioinformatics remains an essential strategy to gain new insights on the needs and expectations on rice genomics.