Hi,

(Apologies for cross postings.)

The iPlant initiative held a meeting 8-9 April to start discussions on
possible "grand challenge" projects. Work is now underway to develop
more complete proposals. At least one proposal looks like it would
support development of tools to facilitate linking genetic, genomic and
metabolic data to models, including crop models. iPlant is supposed to
develop generic tools, which presumably means it will emphasize XML and
web-based applications. A proposal is being developed for an
iPlant-funded planning workshop for a project that includes gene
expression arrays. Steve Welch (Kansas State Univ.) and Melanie Correll
(U Florida) will also likely be involved in drafting the proposal. 

At this time, it would be useful to know what work modeling groups have
undertaken to develop genetic modeling platforms or modeling tools. This
might include:

-          The ICASA data formats, associated DSSAT tools, and the CSM
models

-          APSIM

-          SEAMLESS-IF

-          GUICS

-          Etc.

If people have comments on overall strategies or know of other efforts
to develop generic models/tools, please either post to the listserver or
contact me directly. Although iPlant is a US NSF-funded initiative, the
project should be open to collaboration with non-US groups.

For more information on iPlant see:
www.iplantcollaborative.org/resources/community-wiki

 

Best regards,

Jeff

 

Jeffrey W. White

USDA ARS, ALARC

21881 N Cardon Lane

Maricopa, AZ 85238, USA

Tel: +1-520-316-6368

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