www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Landmark Agricultural Research Service (ARS) work on genes governing tomato
ripening and nutritional content are the cornerstone of the Tomato
Expression Database (TED), a Cornell University website funded by ARS and
the National Science Foundation (NSF), March 2006 by Luis Pons.

The site, part of the NSF's ongoing Tomato Genomics Project, gives
researchers worldwide access to data they can use to develop new theories on
tomato genetics--and to expand upon what's already known about this popular
food.

The site comprises four sections created and maintained by molecular
biologist James Giovannoni of ARS' U.S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory
in Ithaca, N.Y., in collaboration with Cornell, the University of Florida,
and Virginia Tech University's Virginia Bioinformatics Institute.

Giovannoni has led breakthrough research by ARS and other institutions that
identified key genes that control the ripening of tomatoes. The TED website
provides large-scale tomato gene expression data generated from
"microarrays" - collections of microscopic DNA samples on glass chips that
allow scientists to assess thousands of genes in an organism.

One section within TED is a tomato microarray data-storage "warehouse,"
which serves as a source of downloadable raw research information.

TED's microarray expression database, meanwhile, offers information analyzed
in Giovannoni's laboratory on gene expression related to fruit development
and ripening. It also contains data that allows for genetic comparisons
between normal and mutant tomatoes.

The site's digital expression database presents information that's similar,
but based upon expressed tag sequences. These sequences identify genes
through expression in RNA that's reflected in DNA. A fourth database, the
tomato metabolite database, has information on the chemical composition of
tomatoes, along with comparative gene-expression data. It's designed to help
researchers develop and test hypotheses on how flavor and texture attributes
of tomato fruit are regulated.

The TED site also allows users with a login ID and password to submit new
data. According to Giovannoni, a recent NSF grant will allow for an
expansion of the TED site.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
agency.

[www.ars.usda.gov]

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