Importance of rice as a model for other grass species
The Gramineae (grass) family of plants contains economically agricultural species such as maize, wheat, rice, barley, sorghum, rye, and sugarcane. Rice has several attributes that makes it the most amenable species to obtain the genome sequence from a grass species. It has a small genome (est. at 430 Mb) when compared to other species such as maize, wheat, and barley. In addition, a majority of people in the world use rice as a major food source, with rice accounting for a substantial portion of the diet of a person in a developing nation. Thus, information generated from a rice genome project could be utilized to increase the quality and quantity of rice production. In addition, the members of the Gramineae family are closely related, with their genomes sharing extensive synteny. Thus, information gained from a rice genome project can be leveraged to other grass species, increasing the gain from a single genome project.
US Participation in the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project
Rice is the target of an international sequencing project, lead by the Rice Genome Program in Japan. The U. S. is participating in this international effort and has been assigned chromosomes 3, 10, and 11 by the as targets for genome sequencing and annotation. Four groups are participating in the U. S. effort, The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), Clemson University/Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory/Washington University consortium (CCW), Plant Genome Initiative at Rutgers (PGIR), and the University of Wisconsin.
Blast Search of Rice Genomic Sequences Generated by the US Groups
Click here to do a BLAST search of US rice genomic sequences for chromosome 3 and 10. Sequences were generated by TIGR, CCW, and PGIR.
Allocation of chromosome 3, 10 and 11 among US groups
Chromosome 3
CCW and TIGR are sequencing chromosome 3 as part of their USDA-CSREES/NSF/DOE funded projects.
Click here for current statistics on Chromosome 3
Chromosome 10
Three groups are involved in sequencing chromosome 10. Click on the highlighted regions to be taken to the individual web site for each sequencing group. Clones selected for sequencing can be viewed on the Clemson Rice BAC clone registry.
Click here for current statistics on Chromosome 10
Chromosome 11
TIGR, PGIR are sequencing portions of chromosome 11 along with the Indian Rice Genome Initiative
University of Wisconsin also is participating in chromosome 11 sequencing.
They have BACs at 6.4, 20.1, 34.7, 56.9, and 83.9 cM.
Click here for current statistics on Chromosome 11
Links to Other Rice Genome Projects
Funding for the Rice Genome Projects at CCW and TIGR are provided by the U. S. Department of Agriculture-CSREES, National Science Foundation, and the U. S. Department of Energy.
 Rice Comments/Questions can be sent to rice@tigr.org.
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