April, 2000
Project summary
Monsanto Company
has produced the first "working draft" of the rice genome.
This working draft provides the most extensive understanding of all 12 chromosomes of rice to date.
Rice is now the first crop plant to be decoded, or sequenced, in such genetic detail.
This decoding of the rice genome is fundamental information, which will aid researchers and scientists in the development of improved types of rice. It will also expand knowledge about crop yield, disease and pest resistance, hybrid vigor, and adaptability to different environmental situations.
Rice is a model cereal for genome sequencing, and the completion of its genome is a key to understanding the genomic structure of other grasses. Knowing the location of a gene in rice can help to find similar genes in corn and wheat. Rice has the smallest genome of the major cereals (which include corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, millet and sorghum). The rice genome is 37 times smaller than wheat, and six times smaller than corn.
The rice genome project was conducted primarily at the University of Washington in Seattle, under contract for Monsanto. The project was directed by Dr. Leroy Hood.
Monsanto undertook this rice genome sequencing project to support its ongoing crop research and development programs.
Monsanto will share data with an international consortium
Monsanto will provide its rice sequence files, as well as the tools used in the process of its sequencing, to an important international research consortium, the International Rice Genome Sequence Project (IRGSP). The IRGSP includes ten research teams around the world working to complete the entire genome sequence of rice.
Scientists from Japan, the United States, China, Korea, European Union and other countries first met in September 1997 in Singapore to explore a collaborative, multi-year effort to sequence the rice genome. In February 1998, scientists and researchers met again to formally launch the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP).
The international project was established because of the tremendous resources required to complete this task, and the understanding that it could be completed sooner if researchers from around the world collaborated on the project. IRGSP members have agreed to use a single germplasm, to share materials and information, to immediately make public completed portions of the genome, to achieve certain accuracy standards, and to coordinate their work.
Since the initial establishment of the IRGSP, several other members - including scientists from France, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Thailand, Canada and India - have joined this collaborative effort. Most IRGSP members have received public funding for their research efforts. The current IRGSP members are:
- Japan - Rice Genome Research Program (parent project of IRGSP), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Tsukuba
- Canada - McGill University, Montréal
- China - The National Center for Gene Research (NCGR), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai
- France - Génoplante / Génoscope, Paris
- India - Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi / Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi
- Korea - The Korea Rice Genome Database, Yongin
- Taiwan - Rice Genome Project, Academia Sinica Plant Genome Center, Taipei
- Thailand - National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC), Bangkok
- United Kingdom - John Innes Centre, Norwich
- United States
- Clemson University Genomics Institute, South Carolina
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York
- Genome Sequencing Center
- Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, Missouri
- The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), Maryland
- Plant Genome Initiative at Rutgers (PGIR), New Jersey
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
Monsanto will transfer the data which comprises the working draft of the rice genome sequence to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) of the Government of Japan, as the lead agency of the IRGSP. MAFF will in turn make this data available to IRGSP members for use in completing the entire sequence of the rice genome.
In 1997, IRGSP predicted that completing the rice genome would take ten years and cost more than U.S. $200 million. With the rice genome sequencing data shared by Monsanto, the IRGSP is expected to achieve their goal much sooner at lower cost.
The work of the IRGSP is expected to continue, incorporating Monsanto's "working draft," until the entire rice genome sequence has been completed.
As each segment of the sequence is completed, it will be placed in the public domain in accordance with existing IRGSP policy.
Monsanto will also share rice sequencing data with others in the international research community
Monsanto will also provide access to its data to researchers outside the IRGSP consortium. Researchers who register with the company will be able to access the data through a separate computer connection.
Monsanto encourages those who make use of its data directly to publish their results to the international research community.
If researchers patent inventions based on direct use of Monsanto's sequence data, the company is given an early opportunity to negotiate a non-exclusive license to such patents.
Monsanto Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pharmacia, is a leading provider of agricultural solutions to growers worldwide. Its 12,000 employees provide top-quality, cost-effective and integrated approaches to help farmers improve their productivity and produce better quality foods.
Rice
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