The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) today announced that it was awarded $1.2 million by the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to continue development of the Legume Information System (LIS). LIS is a component of the Model Plant Initiative, established by Congress to translate information and discoveries from well-studied plant species to economically critical legumes, such as soybeans, peanuts and alfalfa.

"The amount of information being collected on the genetics, physiology and biochemistry of the organisms that feed the world is staggering and increasing daily," said Dr. Randy C. Shoemaker of the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA, Ames, Iowa. "Making sense of this vast amount of data is a huge challenge. To do this, we need a database that can retrieve, accumulate, sort, compare and visualize data, quickly and efficiently - this is the Legume Information System. It will help transfer knowledge gained in one legume species to another, decreasing redundant research and speeding genetic advances."

Legumes, such as soybeans, lentils and peas, are best known as excellent sources of dietary proteins and oils, and also for their ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen into organic fertilizer. In its first two years, LIS has developed a free web-accessible legume information resource consisting of bioinformatics analysis and visualization software for genomic information from Barrel Medic (Medicago truncatula) and Japanese bird's foot trefoil (Lotus japonicus), model legumes, as well as from soybean.

"A third year of support from the US Department of Agriculture will allow us to extend the capabilities of the LIS to understand the genetic networks that underlie complex systems of legume biology," said Dr. Bill Beavis, Chief Scientific Officer of NCGR. "LIS is an essential information resource that has been used to identify a large number of genes that are unique to legumes. LIS is helping us to find genes responsible for production of essential amino acids and nitrogen fixation without having to sequence the entire genomes of soybean and alfalfa."

Founded in 1994, NCGR is a non-profit research institute dedicated to translating research at intersections between bioscience, computing and mathematics into improvements in global health, and nutrition, and abolition of infectious disease. NCGR addresses the growing need to integrate and analyze research results generated at different locations, different times, and with disparate technologies by provision of integrated, internet-based biological information resources and development of innovative bioscience software. Additional information about the National Center for Genome Resources can be found at www.ncgr.org.