Abstract
In small grain Triticeae crops, the molecular characterization of genes coincident with disease, response to biotic or abiotic stresses, or cellular development has traditionally followed a "one-gene-at-a-time" approach. However, recent advances in microarray technology now allow the parallel investigation of up to 22,500 genes in a single experiment. Early next year, a USDA-IFAFS funded barley GeneChip will be available from Affymetrix. We will utilize our new 22,500-feature Affymetrix barley GeneChip to characterize new genes regulated during Rar1/Sgt1-dependent and Rar1/Sgt1-independent interactions during powdery mildew disease, as well as genes regulated during powdery mildew induced programmed cell death. In order to effectively utilize up to 500,000 data points per experiment, researchers must be able to easily access, compare, and manipulate the generated data. This project will create an on-line interactive database component, BarleyBase, and develop a set of web-accessible tools for the analysis of Affymetrix GeneChip data. BarleyBase will feature "click through" integration of the data on the web and it will be interoperable with the Gramene comparative mapping resource for grains (http://www.gramene.org/). The web-based analysis tools will enable database users to identify subsets of genes that change expression in response to drought, cold stress, disease, or other treatments. These tools will accelerate agronomic and quality research in cereals, one of the world's most important food sources.