Bioinformatics Advance Access published online on January 19, 2007
Bioinformatics, doi:10.1093/bioinformatics/btm013
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A new versatile database created for geneticists and breeders to link molecular and phenotypic data in perennial crops: the AppleBreed DataBase
1Walloon Agricultural Research Centre (CRA-W), Gembloux, Liroux 9, B-5030, Belgium
2Plant Pathology, Institute of Integrative Biology (IBZ), ETH Zurich, Universitätstasse 2, CH 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
3Genetics and Horticulture GenHort, National Institute for Agricultural Research, 15 INRA, BP 60057, F-49071 Beaucouzé Cedex, France
4Plant Research International (PRI), P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. A. Antofie, E-mail: antofie{at}cra.wallonie.be
| Abstract |
|---|
Objective: AppleBreed DataBase (DB) aims to store genotypic and phenotypic data from multiple pedigree verified plant populations (crosses, breeding selections and commercial cultivars) so that they are easily accessible for geneticists and breeders. It will help in elucidating the genetics of economically important traits, in identifying molecular markers associated with agronomic traits, in allele mining and in choosing the best parental cultivars for breeding. It also provides high traceability of data over generations, years and localities. AppleBreed DB could serve as a generic database design for other perennial crops with long economic lifespans, long juvenile periods and clonal propagation.
Results: AppleBreed DB is organized as a relational database. The core element is the GENOTYPE entity, which has two sub-classes at the physical level: TREE and DNA-SAMPLE. This approach facilitates all links between plant material, phenotypic and molecular data. The entities TREE, DNA-SAMPLE, PHENOTYPE and MOLECULAR DATA allow multi-annual observations to be stored as individual samples of individual trees, even if the nature of these observations differs greatly (e.g., molecular data on parts of the apple genome, physico-chemical measurements of fruit quality traits, and evaluation of disease resistance). AppleBreed DB also includes synonyms for cultivars and pedigrees. Finally, it can be loaded and explored through the web, and comes with tools to present basic statistical overviews and with validation procedures for phenotypic and marker data to certify data quality.
Associate Editor: Chris Stoeckert
Received on November 20, 2006; revised on January 11, 2007; accepted on January 12, 2007