NCGR and USDA-ARS Announce Support for Continued Development of the Legume Information System

Business Wire, August 29, 2005

SANTA FE, N.M. -- The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) announced that it has been awarded $790,000 by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the USDA for continued development of the Legume Information System (LIS). LIS is a Web-enabled information resource developed by NCGR and USDA-ARS (Ames, Iowa) and used by scientists nationwide to translate genomic information from model plant species to economically important crops.

Legumes contribute more than $30 billion annually to U.S. agricultural productivity. Furthermore, legumes are a key source of dietary protein, vegetable oils and therapeutic compounds, several of which help prevent cancer. During the last four years, LIS has become the most widely used legume information resource, serving approximately 125 geographically distributed legume research labs. The new funding will allow expansion of LIS to integrate experimental genomic and genetic information from all legumes, and development of new interfaces to enable scientific discoveries.

Urgent scientific goals for LIS include progress toward non-allergenic peanuts and understanding resistance to economically devastating pathogens such as Asian Soybean Rust. Dr. Bill Beavis, the principal investigator of LIS, stated, "The sources of allergens in currently grown varieties of peanuts are the seed storage proteins that provide high levels of essential amino acids for the human diet. Because all legumes produce seed storage proteins, but not all elicit allergic responses, LIS is being used to compare the genetic basis among legumes for production of these proteins. Identification of non-allergic variants in related legumes (lentils, peas, beans) is a first step toward identifying non-allergenic peanut strains."

Dr. Randy Shoemaker, the principal investigator at USDA-ARS, also noted, "Disease resistance found in other legumes may provide novel forms of resistance in economically important legumes such as soybean."

The purpose of LIS is to enable these types of comparative genomics research resulting in more secure crop productivity, and improved nutrition and health.

About NCGR

NCGR is a non-profit research institute dedicated to improving human health and nutrition through collaborative research at the intersection of bioscience, computing and mathematics. NCGR has established a reputation for developing software that addresses the growing need to access, integrate and analyze research results generated at different locations, times, and with disparate biotechnologies. www.ncgr.org

About USDA-ARS

The Agricultural Research Service is the primary in-house scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. ARS finds solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans every day, from field to table. ARS scientists collaborate with research partners from universities, companies, other organizations and other countries. Research is conducted at approximately 100 locations and is coordinated through National Research Programs. www.ars.usda.gov