Abstract
BackgroundBlueberry is a member of the Ericaceae family, which also includes closely related cranberry and more distantly related rhododendron, azalea, and mountain laurel. Blueberry is a major berry crop in the United States, and one that has great nutritional and economical value. Extreme low temperatures, however, reduce crop yield and cause major losses to US farmers. A better understanding of the genes and biochemical pathways that are up- or down-regulated during cold acclimation is needed to produce blueberry cultivars with enhanced cold hardiness. To that end, the blueberry genomics database (BBDG) was developed. Along with the analysis tools and web-based query interfaces, the database serves both the broader Ericaceae research community and the blueberry research community specifically by making available ESTs and gene expression data in searchable formats and in elucidating the underlying mechanisms of cold acclimation and freeze tolerance in blueberry.DescriptionBBGD is the world's first database for blueberry genomics. BBGD is both a sequence and gene expression database. It stores both EST and microarray data and allows scientists to correlate expression profiles with gene function. BBGD is a public online database. Presently, the main focus of the database is the identification of genes in blueberry that are significantly induced or suppressed after low temperature exposure.ConclusionBy using the database, researchers have developed EST-based markers for mapping and have identified a number of "candidate" cold tolerance genes that are highly expressed in blueberry flower buds after exposure to low temperatures.
Highlights
Blueberry is a member of the Ericaceae family, which includes closely related cranberry and more distantly related rhododendron, azalea, and mountain laurel
Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is one of the major berry crops grown in the United States [1]
Functional genomic studies on berry crops are lacking, especially studies dealing with the molecular impacts of low temperature on berry crop yield
Summary
Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is one of the major berry crops grown in the United States [1]. Blueberry is a model organism for the heath family Ericaceae, which includes the economically important, closely related cranberry as well as the economically important, more distantly related ornamentals, rhododendron, azalea, and mountain laurel For all these related species, genomic studies, including EST generation and microarray analyses, are lacking or completely absent. Analytical tools include t-tests to detect significantly induced/suppressed genes and online analytical processing (OLAP) to find correlations and relationships in data sets These tools have been integrated into the database, thereby eliminating the need for thirdparty software. BBGD is divided into two separate but related entities, a sequence database and a microarray database This allows for the correlation of gene function, deduced from the EST data, with expression levels, deduced from the microarray data. The bulk of the EST and microarray data held at the BBGD currently deals with identifying cold-responsive genes in blueberry flower buds
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