The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) announced that it has been awarded $225,000 by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA for initial development of a Legume Information Network (LIN). NCGR will collaborate with USDA-ARS at Ames Iowa and the Center for Computational Genomics and Bioinformatics (CCGB) at the University of Minnesota to develop the network. LIN will integrate distributed and independent legume information resources and demonstrate the ability to answer specific questions, such as identification of allergens in legumes through comparative genomics.

Today’s biological research is multidisciplinary and involves integration of many types of experimental information: genetic, genomic, transcript, proteomic, metabolic, and phenotypic. Biologists frequently work with information that is distributed across dozens of autonomous, webenabled, information resources. The proliferation of separate, independent, and often ephemeral information resources is a source of logistical frustration to biologists; they have to search multiple, often unlinked web sites to find data, information, and analysis tools to support their research. The LIN will provide the necessary software infrastructure to support a single ‘portal’ through which legume biologists can access data and analysis tools distributed across the web.

Legume crops, such as beans, soybeans and peanuts, contribute more than $30 billion annually to US agricultural productivity and are grown on more than 75 million acres in the US. Furthermore, legumes are the primary sources of non-animal protein in the US diet.

Construction of the LIN will be based on emerging middleware technology platforms such as BioMOBY to integrate existing information resources and analysis tools developed at NCGR and CCGB. A single interface for the researcher will enable the legume biologist to access these tools and data resources without having to ‘jump’ among multiple web-sites. It will also provide mechanisms for other information resource providers to join the network.

NCGR is a non-profit research institute dedicated to improving human health and nutrition through collaborative research at the intersection of bioscience, computing and mathematics. NCGR has established a reputation for developing software that addresses the growing need to access, integrate and analyze research results generated at different locations, times, and with disparate biotechnologies.

The Agricultural Research Service is the primary in-house scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ARS finds solution to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day, from field to table. ARS scientists collaborate with research partners from universities, companies, other organizations and other countries. Research is conducted at approximately 100 locations and is coordinated through National Research Programs.

Created in 1997, CCGB is a research and service organization at the University of Minnesota. The CCGB has focused on large-scale data analysis and integration, and on the development of interoperable environments.

Santa Fe, New Mexico
August 29, 2005

NCGR and USDA-ARS announce support for continued development of the Legume Information System

The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) announced that it has been awarded $790,000 by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA for continued development of the Legume Information System (LIS). LIS is a webenabled information resource developed by NCGR and USDA-ARS (Ames, Iowa) and used by
scientists nationwide to translate genomic information from model plant species to economically important crops.

Legumes contribute more than $30 billion annually to US agricultural productivity. Furthermore, legumes are a key source of dietary protein, vegetable oils and therapeutic compounds, several of which help prevent cancer. During the last four years, LIS has become the most widely used, legume information resource, serving approximately 125 geographically distributed legume research labs. The new funding will allow expansion of LIS to integrate experimental genomic and genetic information from all legumes, and development of new interfaces to enable scientific discoveries.

Urgent scientific goals for LIS include progress toward non-allergenic peanuts and understanding resistance to economically devastating pathogens such as Asian Soybean Rust. Dr. Bill Beavis, the principal investigator of LIS, stated that “The sources of allergens in currently grown varieties of peanuts are the seed storage proteins that provide high levels of essential amino acids for the human diet. Because all legumes produce seed storage proteins, but not all elicit allergic responses, LIS is being used to compare the genetic basis among legumes for
production of these proteins. Identification of non-allergic variants in related legumes (lentils, peas, beans) is a first step toward identifying non-allergic peanut strains.” Dr. Randy Shoemaker, the principle investigator at USDA-ARS also noted that “Disease resistance found in other legumes may provide novel forms of resistance in economically important legumes such as soybean”.

The purpose of LIS is to enable these types of comparative genomics research resulting in more secure crop productivity, and improved nutrition and health.