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A software system for tobacco germplasm data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2008

H. Ravisankar ,
K. Sarala ,
V. Krishnamurthy  and
R.V.S. Rao
H. Ravisankar*
Affiliation:
Computer Cell, Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry 533105, India, e-mail: hravisankar@india.com
K. Sarala
Affiliation:
Division of Crop Improvement, Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry 533105, India, e-mail: sarala.ctri@gmail.com
V. Krishnamurthy
Affiliation:
Director, Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry 533105, India, e-mail: vkrishnamurthy_ctri@yahoo.co.in
R.V.S. Rao
Affiliation:
Division of Crop Improvement, Central Tobacco Research Institute, Rajahmundry 533105, India.
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: hravisankar@india.com
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Abstract

Tobacco germplasm are of different ‘types’, with large numbers of accessions in each type. In order to effectively manage this tobacco germplasm information, a user-friendly menu-driven software has been developed based on Visual C++ and MS-Access. The system allows the user to store, modify and update germplasm information as and when required, and represents a decision-making tool.

Keywords

databasegermplasm managementgermplasm resources
Type
Research Article
Information
Plant Genetic Resources , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , August 2009 , pp. 139 - 141
Copyright
Copyright © NIAB 2008

Introduction

Accessing the large amounts of plant genetic resource data requires the development of germplasm databases to store and retrieve the information (Fox et al., Reference Fox, Lopez, Skovmand, Sanchez, Herrera, White, Duveiller and Van1996; Fox and Skovmand, Reference Fox, Skovmand, Cooper and Hammer1996; Bruskiewich et al., Reference Bruskiewich, Cosico, Eusebio, Portugal, Ramos, Reyes, Sallan, Ulat, Wang and McNally2003; Christopher et al., Reference Christopher, Bruskiewich, Portugal and Cosico2005; Chen and Huang, Reference Chen and Huang2007; Agrawal et al., Reference Agrawal, Drona and Saxena2007; Mundankar and Karibasappa, Reference Mundankar and Karibasappa2008). Some of the current databases are international based, while others are either national or crop based (www.globalplanofaction.org). Some examples are the AVRDC Vegetable Genetic Resources Information System (AVGRIS; http://203.64.245.173/avgris/), the Biodiversity Directory of Germplasm Collections database (http://www.bioversityinternational.org/index.php?id = 168) and the System-Wide Information Network for Plant Genetic Resources (SINGER; http://singer.grinfo.net/). These database systems provide online access to the germplasm data.

Tobacco is grown as a commercial crop in many different countries, and each of these maintains its own germplasm collections. Most of these countries are managing these collections without computer databases. Although a single database in Chinese language is available (Zhang et al., Reference Zhang, Kong and YANG1990), its global accessibility is restricted in view of its language.

In India, the Central Tobacco Research Institute takes the responsibility to collect, maintain, evaluate and document tobacco germplasm, to facilitate their improvement for domestic and export purposes (Rao et al., Reference Rao, Murthy and Sarala2005). The collection consists currently of approximately 2400 accessions, including 57 wild Nicotiana species, but at the moment lacks a database system. Here, we describe a software system for tobacco germplasm, which has been designed to store, update and access the germplasm data.

Software system for tobacco germplasm

A datasheet with 100 fields has been prepared based on various parameters related to tobacco germplasm (Fig. 1). Based on this datasheet, a software system for tobacco germplasm data (SSTG) has been developed in English language using Visual C++ (Bennett, Reference Bennett1997; Harvey and Paul, Reference Harvey and Paul2000, Reference Harvey and Paul2004) as a front-end application and MS-Access (Microsoft corporation, 1994) as a back-end application. A personal computer system with a minimum of 64 MB RAM, preloaded with Visual C++ and MS-Access, a CD-ROM drive for loading the software and a Super Video Graphics Adaptor monitor is required for the execution of this software.

Fig. 1 Datasheet consisting of various fields in the database.

SSTG helps to store, update and access the tobacco germplasm data for the optimum management of germplasm resources. The main menu (Fig. 2) of this system consists of five modules. The ‘INSERT’ module allows the user to enter the entire record of a germplasm accession including history (variety, type, donor, specifies, etc.), classification (curing and purpose), morphological classification (plant habit, height, internodal length, stem width, stem colour, etc.), leaf characters (colour, stalk, shape, base, midrib, surface, maturity, size and leaf thickness), reaction to biotic and abiotic stresses (diseases, pests and abiotic stress), crop season (crop condition, green leaf, cured leaf, bright leaf and grade index) and quality characteristics (chemical, physical, cured leaf, etc.) into the database. The ‘DELETE’ module helps to delete the entire information of a particular accession. The ‘UPDATE’ module allows changing the values of a record in the stored database. The ‘RECORD REPORTS’ module permits the display of the entire information by selecting an accession name. The ‘QUERY’ module (Fig. 3) provides an option of selecting the germplasm lines having combinations of various parameters. Multiple queries can be made using relational operators (Fig. 4) to obtain the required report. A hard copy of the selected report can be obtained using the ‘PRINT’ option.

Fig. 2 Main menu allows the user to add, delete, update and retrieve the data from the database.

Fig. 3 Query menu 1 helps the user to select various parameters for accessing the required information from the database.

Fig. 4 Query menu 2 helps the user to access the database with multiple queries using relational operators.

Conclusion

SSTG with user-friendly menus for storing and retrieval of tobacco germplasm data will be of use for tobacco researchers. This software enables the scientists to add new data, delete unwanted data, update existing data and retrieve data on the selected parameters with conditional queries on germplasm accessions. This database can be kept in the web server for online access by the scientists engaged in tobacco research, throughout the world. SSTG can be obtained by contacting .

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Figure 0

Fig. 1 Datasheet consisting of various fields in the database.

Figure 1

Fig. 2 Main menu allows the user to add, delete, update and retrieve the data from the database.

Figure 2

Fig. 3 Query menu 1 helps the user to select various parameters for accessing the required information from the database.

Figure 3

Fig. 4 Query menu 2 helps the user to access the database with multiple queries using relational operators.