Genetic control of root development in rice is complex and the underlying mechanisms (constitutive and adaptive)
are poorly understood. Lowland and upland varieties of indica and japonica rice with
contrasting root development characteristics have been crossed, mapping populations developed and a number of QTLs in different
chromosomes were identified. As these studies have used different sets of markers and many of the QTLs identified are long, it
is difficult to exploit the varietal difference for improved root traits by marker assisted selection and for identification of
concerned alleles. Intensive data mining of literature resulted in the identification 861 root development QTLs and associated
microsatellite markers located on different chromosomes. The QTL and marker data generated and the genome sequence of rice were
used for construction of a relational database, Rootbrowse, using MySQL relational database management system and Bio::DB::GFF
schema. The data is viewed using GBrowse visualization tool. It graphically displays a section of the genome and all features
annotated on it including the QTLs. The QTLs can be displayed along with SSR markers, protein coding genes and/or known root
development genes for prediction of probable candidate genes.
Availability
Rootbrowse is freely available at
http://www.ricebrowse.org
Keywords: root development, rice, QTLs, candidate genes, auxin metabolism, gbrowse


