Ensembl Plant Populations

Ensembl Plants contains high-quality annotated reference genome assemblies for >100 model and crop species. Numerous plant genetic resources have been generated to capture and exploit genetic diversity, e.g. association mapping/diversity panels, many of which now come with founder genome assemblies and progeny variant datasets. However significant user bioinformatic, genetic and statistical expertise is required to analyse these genetic resources and interpret results in the context of the genes, genetic variants and appropriate reference genomes.

We will establish the 'Ensembl Plant Populations' platform - a web-tool containing existing population-based sequence and variant data, supporting users to run statistically sound genetic analyses. We focus on seven plant/crop species of relevance to UK researchers: wheat, barley, rice, brassica, arabidopsis, tomato and oat. The tool will provide an integrated pipeline to undertake genetic analyses from start to finish, including: (i) investigation of predicted power to detect genetic loci, (ii) adjustable forward genetic analysis settings, (iii) interactive genome-wide view of results, and (iv) presentation of useful information linked to genes and variants.

News

Ensembl 2025

Improved access to plant genetic resources to drive crop innovation

Duration

2023-2026

Partner

Funder