NSF's Plant Genome Research Subactivity (PGR) was established in FY 1998 as part of the National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI), building upon an existing base of genome research supported throughout the BIO activity. PGR supports research that advances our understanding of the structure, organization and function of plant genomes, and that accelerates utilization of new knowledge and innovative technologies toward a more complete understanding of basic biological processes in plants. This increased emphasis on plant genomics is revolutionizing fundamental plant science research and its application to agriculture, forestry, energy, and the environment, as well as the production of plant-based industrial materials and chemicals.

Since the program's inception in FY 1998, support has been provided for research on structural and functional genomics, and for strengthening the research infrastructure necessary for robust plant genomics research. Within the short time of its existence, PGR has dramatically energized the plant genome research community. FY 1998 funds provided for accelerated sequencing of the genome of the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, have had a significant effect on this international effort in that the project is now well on its way to completion in the latter part of the year 2000, four years ahead of the original schedule. Several projects funded in FY 1998 have resulted in a large number of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs). ESTs represent unique identifiers for genes expressed in the plant and provide extremely useful markers for scientists to identify, isolate, and investigate specific genes of interest. As of the end of 1999, approximately 450,000 entries are in the public EST database for corn, tomato, soybean and cotton where only 2,000 existed for these plants in 1998. In the area of technology development, NSF made significant investments in microarray and gene chip technologies in an effort to realize the potential of this very promising, but still evolving, technology for plant functional genomics research. All the awardees have established an electronic bulletin board to share their successes and difficulties with the technology, and some early signs of successful implementation are beginning to emerge. In addition to scientific activities, all the awardees in this program are required to provide means to increase participation of underrepresented groups.

An important scientific breakthrough about the organization of the plant genome has been reported by one group of FY 1998 awardees. These investigators discovered the existence of genes in the centromere region of a chromosome, which was previously considered to provide structural integrity but not contain genes. This discovery is changing the fundamental thinking about chromosomal organization and function.

The FY 2001 Budget Request will continue the following activities:

• Functional Genomics: During the last two years, plant genome research projects have created massive plant genomics datasets and resources, such as DNA sequence data for both model organisms and crop plants, large collections of corn mutants, DNA libraries consisting of whole genomes of major crop plants, and gene chips. Now plant genome researchers will utilize these datasets to relate the genome structure and organization to the function of the plant genome. Increased understanding of the genome function will lead to an increased understanding of plant processes of economic importance, including hybrid vigor, yield, nutritional quality, production of industrial chemicals, and disease resistance.
  
  
• Training in Plant Genomics: Graduate and undergraduate training is interwoven into all plant genome awards. As a result, a new generation of scientists will be trained to use the power of genomics to advance plant science in both fundamental and applied fields. Broadened participation of underrepresented groups as well as non-research-intensive institutions will be emphasized.

An additional $35 million through basic research activities throughout the BIO subactivities amounts to a total of more than $102 million for the Plant Genome Research program in FY 2001.