New
tool developed for rice research
The Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) is developing an analysis
tool that will allow rice researchers
to fast-track breeding of stress-tolerant varieties in the
country.
PhilRice, an attached agency of the
Department of Agriculture, said the new technology will be called
Rice Integrative Genomics Workbench in Galaxy or RIGby.
Reynante Ordonio, a PhilRice biotechnology
expert, described RIGby as a “swiss knife” of tools for bioinformatics, as it
contains the important data on rice breeding, which could hasten data
generation and analysis.
“RIGBy will help generate genomic data needed
in developing new rice varieties that are resistant to pests and diseases and
can withstand drought, flood, low temperature, and salinity,” he said.
PhilRice
said bioinformatics tools like RIGBy is necessary for rice research
given that previous rice sequencing and analysis required so much time to
complete.
“Through sequencing, traits needed to develop
high-quality and stress resistant varieties are mined. Genomic data, which
require large amount of storage, contain the functions of specific genes,” it
said.
According to Jan Michael Yap, project
leader and lead developer of RIGby, the software is specifically designed for
rice research, as it contain tools that knows that the input data is
from rice.
“Better rice research is expected from the
software, which will eventually benefit the farmers,” Yap said.
PhilRice said RIGby is yet to pass the beta
test, where it will be tested by potential users. It added the software will be
accessible to anyone, especially to rice researchers who are encouraged
to use and provide feedback to the developers.
According to PhilRice, the Department of
Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural
Resources Research and Development is funding the project.
http://www.manilatimes.net/new-tool-developed-for-rice-research/398084/
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