2007AllertonRetreatreport-MaizeGDB.docVIP

The Future of Maize Genetics Planning for the Sequenced Genome Era A Maize Genetics Community Retreat Allerton Park and Conference Center March 20 - 22, 2007 Support provided by the USDA-CSREES-NRI-Plant Genome and the NSF Plant Genome Research Programs and the University of Illinois. Executive Summary page 2 Detailed Report 3 Introduction 3 Challenging Unanswered Questions 3 Current Resources and Future Needs 4 Sequencing and annotation 5 Centralized databases 5 Transformation improvements 6 Reverse genetics resources 7 Expression profiling 8 Phenomics 9 Community membership 10 Summary and Next Steps 12 Executive Summary: The Future of Maize Genetics - Planning for the Sequenced Genome Era A Maize Genetics Community Retreat at Allerton, March 20 - 22, 2007 Leaders in the maize community met for a two-day retreat to discuss the strengths, challenges, and initiatives that define the future of maize research. To guide strategic planning, the community first identified key questions in biology that can be best answered using maize as a model system. These biological questions were considered relative to the overarching goal of understanding the genetic basis of traits in maize. The research directions defined below and the plans to achieve the goals serve as the foundation for basic research and provide the tools for improving food, fuel, and crop yields in a changing environment. Key biological issues define our research goals and directions: Maize is the pre-eminent model for studying genome evolution and trait variation due to its unsurpassed natural diversity, genome duplication history and range of adaptations. Because adaptation is critical to agriculture, maize research will continue to be a model for understanding the basis of genetic interactions with the environment. Study of maize heterosis will provide key information about how genes and alleles interact. Maize will continue to lead in the area of epigenetics. Imprinting, paramutation and transposons we