The project is generating a comprehensive functional genomic resource composed of expression profiles of significant points in growth, development and response to abiotic and biotic stresses, and a set of functionally defined genes identified through virus-induced gene silencing to be involved in host response to pathogens.

Microarray Expression Profiling
Solanaceae gene expression profiles are being generated through mRNA hybridization experiments using a 10,000 element potato microarray developed by TIGR from potato EST sequences. Project participants serve as the primary source of mRNA, though external collaborators are also invited to contribute mRNA through an established proposal solicitation mechanism. mRNA populations represent a range of developmental and response conditions and hybridization experiments are designed to examine important aspects of Solanaceae biology, including response to biotic stress and abiotic stress, polyploidy, heterozygosity, and tuber development. All microarray data is publically available through the Solanaceae Gene Expression Database (SGED) maintained by TIGR.

Virus Induced Gene Silencing
Virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a powerful functional genomics tool. Project participants are using VIGS to functionally characterize candidate genes identified in the literature and through the project's genomic genomic sequencing efforts and potato microarray gene expression profiling. The set of functionally defined genes involved in important cellular processes including host response to pathogens has been identified using this approach.

ESTs and the Solanum tuberosum Gene Index
The Buell laboratory at TIGR has generated ~130,000 Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) from five core and two P. infestans challenged potato cDNA libraries and released to the Genebank public database. These ESTs and potato transcripts from Genbank have been assembled into contigs and built into the Solanum tuberosum Gene Index (StGI), which is available online . For further information on the project's potato ESTs, visit TIGR's potato EST sequence page.

Learn more about the project's structural genomics research.