For more information, see program announcement NSF 99-91. 2. Plant Genome Research initiated as a program in fiscal year 1998 as part of a national plant genome research initiative established by the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The long-term goal of this program is to understand the structure, organization, and function of plant genomes important to agriculture, the environment, energy, and health. The goals of this program are to support research on plant genomics and to accelerate the acquisition and utilization of new knowledge and innovative approaches to elucidate fundamental biological processes in plants. During the past 2 years, a significant investment has been made for building the plant genome infrastructure in the United States.
Emphasis is placed on plants of economic importance and plant processes of potential economic value.
Support of Living Stock Collections supports repositories of research organisms, genetic stocks, and seeds, as well as cell lines and DNA clones that are associated with the whole organisms in the collection. The resources supported by this program are considered essential for national or international scientific research in the biological sciences. Funds are also provided for curatorial databases and for linking the information associated with the collection to other information resources or scientific databases. Long-term support of a collection or repository will require the development and use of such databases. For more information, see program announcement and guidelines NSF 97-80. 4.