The REGIA Database (RegiaDB): Status, Limitations and Future Developments

REGIA (the REgulatory Gene Initiative in Arabidopsis) is financed by the European Union (EU) (QLG2-1999-00876) and carried out by a consortium of 29 laboratories in 9 EU countries (http:// www.epsoweb.org/catalog/EU/fp5/REGIA.htm). The objective of this project is the functional characterization of transcription factors (TFs) from Arabidopsis, to obtain insight into their evolution, and the regulatory hierarchies, gene redundancies, and functional interdependencies that exist among TFs. Such interdependencies are of pivotal importance, as TFs rarely act alone in controlling expression of their target genes. Most traits involve a large number of genes, which are controlled by a few TFs. An understanding of the role of TFs should therefore facilitate the manipulation of agronomically important traits in crop plants such as tomato or maize. This may lead to plants that are more resistant to a variety of stresses, such as, drought, disease or ultra-violet light. Approaches being used to achieve this objective are: