The Phytophthora Genome Initiative Database: informatics and analysis for distributed pathogenomic research

The Phytophthora Genome Initiative (PGI) isa distributed collaboration to s tudy the genome and evolution of a particularly destructive group of plant pathogenic oomycete, with the goal of understanding the mechanisms of infec tion and resistance, NCGR provides informatics support for the collaboratio n as well as a centralized data repository, In the pilot phase of the proje ct, several investigators prepared Phytophthora infestans and Phytophthora sojae EST and Phytophthora sojae BAC libraries and sent them to another lab oratory for sequencing. Data from sequencing reactions were transferred to NCGR for analysis and curation. An analysis pipeline transforms raw-data by performing simple analyses (i.e., vector removal and similarity searching) that are stored and dan be retrieved by investigators using a web browser. Here we describe the database and access tools, provide an overview of the data therein and outline future plans, This resource has provided a unique opportunity for the distributed, collaborative study of a genus from which relatively little sequence data are available. Results may lead to insight into how better to control these pathogens. The homepage of PGI can be acc essed at http:www.ncgr.org/pgi, with database access through the database a ccess hyperlink.