Executive Summary of US National Plant Genome Initiative
Publication of US National Science and Technology Council Committee on Science
January 1998
National Plant Genome Initiative Executive Summary
The Need for a National Plant Genome Initiative: Recent scientific advances made through our nation's investments (private and public sector) in studying DNA structure and function in humans and model organisms have resulted in a new biological paradigm for understanding the traits of organisms. Through the National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI), this paradigm can be extended to improving the useful properties of plants that are important to humanity. Solutions to many of our nation's greatest challenges can be met through the application of plant-based technologies. For example, the revitalisation of rural America will come from a more robust agricultural sector; reductions in greenhouses gases can be achieved from the production of plant biofuels for energy; chemically contaminated sites can be rehabilitated economically using selected plants; and worldwide malnutrition can be greatly reduced through the development of higher yielding and more nutritious crops that can be grown on marginal soil.
The Initiative's Goals: The long-term goal is to understand the structure and function of genes in plants important to agriculture, environmental management energy, and health. Reaching this goal will require a sustained commitment from the Federal government working in collaboration with other nations and with the private sector. The Initiative's short-term goals, to be achieved over the next five years, focus on building a plant genome research infrastructure by:
· completing the sequencing of the model plant species Arabidopsis;· participating in an international effort to sequence rice;
· developing the biological tools (e.g., physical maps, expressed sequence tags, mutants) to study complex plant genomes (e.g., corn, wheat, soybean, cotton);
· increasing our knowledge of gene structure and function of important plant processes;
· developing the appropriate data handling and analysis capabilities; and
· ensuring this new information will be accessible to the broader community of plant biologists (e.g., growers, breeders, physiologists, biotechnologists) and maximising the training opportunities that will arise from the Initiative.
The Initiative's Operating Principles:
· The Initiative should be viewed as a long-term project, governed by a plan that will be updated periodically.· All resources, including data, software, germplasm, and other biological materials should be openly accessible to all.
· The Federal portion of the Initiative should be co-ordinated by a National Science and Technology Council interagency working group.
· All awards should be made on a competitive basis with peer review.
· Partnerships with the private sector and with other nations are vital for success.
Funding: To accomplish the five year goals of the NPGI, at least US$ 320 million could be used by the Federal government in a targeted manner to leverage existing plant genome activities in the public and private sectors. Current estimates of cost could be decreased with advances in technology.
D/W8427
