PNNL

Abstract

Cells and organisms are governed by networks of interactions, genetic, physical and metabolic. Large-scale experimental studies of interactions between components of biological systems have been performed for a variety of eukaryotic organisms. However, there is a dearth of such data for plants. Computational methods for prediction of relationships between proteins, primarily based on comparative genomics, provide a useful systems-level view of cellular functioning and can be used to extend information about other eukaryotes to plants. We have predicted networks for Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa indica and japonica and several plant pathogens using the Bioverse (http://bioverse.compbio.washington.edu) and show that they are similar to experimentally-derived interaction networks. Predicted interaction networks for plants can be used to provide novel functional annotations and predictions about plant phenotypes and aid in rational engineering of biosynthesis pathways.