title: Bioinformatics in the orphan crops.
abstract: Orphan crops are those which are grown as food, animal feed or other crops of some importance in agriculture, but which have not yet received the investment of research effort or funding required to develop significant public bioinformatics resources. Where an orphan crop is related to a well-characterised model plant species, comparative genomics and bioinformatics can often, though not always, be exploited to assist research and crop improvement. This review addresses some challenges and opportunities presented by bioinformatics in the orphan crops, using three examples: forage grasses from the genera Lolium and Festuca, forage legumes and the second generation energy crop Miscanthus.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Plas Gogerddan, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 3EB, Wales, UK.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Armstead
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ravagnani
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Robson
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ougham
mesh_terms: D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000235:genetics*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant