Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 21 January 2000:
Vol. 287. no. 5452, pp. 412 - 414
DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5452.412
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

News Focus

GENETICS:
Reaping the Plant Gene Harvest

Trisha Gura

As the databases fill up with a wealth of new plant gene sequences, researchers are turning to several innovative techniques to decipher the genes' functions. These range from simply comparing new sequences to those already in the databases to using "microarrays" to analyze how gene expression patterns change as conditions vary and generating wholesale lots of mutant plants that can then be screened for interesting trait changes. In addition, plant scientists are venturing into the vast frontier of "metanomics," which tracks the effects of particular mutations or environmental changes on a plant's entire metabolic repertoire. Based on the progress so far, plant researchers are already predicting that the advances in tools and techniques will allow them to make unprecedented progress in figuring out what plant genes do.

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Brachypodium distachyon. A New Model System for Functional Genomics in Grasses.
J. Draper, L. A.J. Mur, G. Jenkins, G. C. Ghosh-Biswas, P. Bablak, R. Hasterok, and A. P.M. Routledge (2001)
Plant Physiology 127, 1539-1555
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Agricultural Biotechnology and Plant Improvement: Setting the Stage for Social and Economic Dialogue.
S. G. PUEPPKE (2001)
American Behavioral Scientist 44, 1233-1245
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)