Role of Databases and Bioinformatics Tools in Crop Improvement

Advancement in genomic analyses in recent years has led to an upsurge of massive biological data. Sophisticated knowledge of a variety of computational tools is essential for drawing meaningful conclusions from this data. Bioinformatics has paved a way to acquire, process, store, analyze and interpret this deluge of genomic information. Its role in areas of crop improvement is already very apparent and has become an integral part of the process of validation of any new plant product. Perception, along with integration, of genomic and agronomic data is fundamental to utilize plant resources to their full extent by paving the way to the production of new cultivars for yield augmentation, reduced economic cost, improved quality and disease management. Genome analysis is envisioned as a highly important tool for any crop-improvement program by the plant scientist community worldwide. In this chapter, some of the computational biology tools and algorithms are discussed which have been instrumental in major crop improvement programs.