NBRP, National Bioresource Project of Japan and plant bioresource management

The National BioResource Project has been organized and established to promote research activities using valuable bioresources. A total of twenty-eight bioresources for ten animals, nine plants and nine microorganisms/cell lines developed or collected in Japan were selected for the project. Resources are categorized into several different groups in the project; genetic resources, germplasm, genome resources and their information. Choices of how many resources must be preserved and maintained and in which categories are dependent on the status of the research community of each organism. These resources, if utilized systematically and intelligently, are powerful means for leading new scientific discoveries. Some examples can be seen in this paper. This paper reviews plant bioresources with the main focus on rice resource activities within the project

NBRP databases: databases of biological resources in Japan

The National BioResource Project (NBRP) is a Japanese project that aims to establish a system for collecting, preserving and providing bioresources for use as experimental materials for life science research. It is promoted by 27 core resource facilities, each concerned with a particular group of organisms, and by one information center. The NBRP database is a product of this project. Thirty databases and an integrated database-retrieval system (BioResource World: BRW) have been created and made available through the NBRP home page (http://www.nbrp.jp). The 30 independent databases have individual features which directly reflect the data maintained by each resource facility. The BRW is designed for users who need to search across several resources without moving from one database to another. BRW provides access to a collection of 4.5-million records on bioresources including wild species, inbred lines, mutants, genetically engineered lines, DNA clones and so on. BRW supports summary browsing, keyword searching, and searching by DNA sequences or gene ontology. The results of searches provide links to online requests for distribution of research materials. A circulation system allows users to submit details of papers published on research conducted using NBRP resources

Facultative parthenogenesis validated by DNA analyses in the green anaconda (Eunectes murinus).

In reptiles, the mode of reproduction is typically sexual. However, facultative parthenogenesis occurs in some Squamata, such as Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) and Burmese python (Python bivittatus). Here, we report facultative parthenogenesis in the green anaconda (Eunectes murinus). We found two fully developed female neonates and 17 undeveloped eggs in the oviduct of a female anaconda isolated from other individuals for eight years and two months at Ueno Zoo, Japan. To clarify the zygosity of the neonates, we analyzed 18 microsatellite markers of which 16 were informative. We observed only maternal alleles and no paternal alleles for all 16 markers. To examine the possibility of the long-term sperm storage, we estimated allele frequencies in a putative parental stock by genotyping five unrelated founders. If all founders, including the mother, are originated from a single Mendelian population, then the probability that the neonates were produced by sexual reproduction with an unrelated male via long-term sperm storage was infinitesimally small (2.31E-32 per clutch). We also examined samples from two additional offspring that the mother delivered eight years before her death. We consistently observed paternal alleles in these elder offspring, indicating that the mother had switched from sexual reproduction to asexual reproduction during the eight years of isolation. This is the first case of parthenogenesis in Eunectes to be validated by DNA analysis, and suggests that facultative parthenogenesis is widespread in the Boidae

Genotypes of the mother, four offspring and five unrelated <i>Eunectes murinus</i>.

<p>Genotypes of the mother, four offspring and five unrelated <i>Eunectes murinus</i>.</p

Characterization of 18 microsatellite DNA loci designed for <i>Eunectes murinus</i>.

<p>Characterization of 18 microsatellite DNA loci designed for <i>Eunectes murinus</i>.</p

Allele frequencies and probablities estimated from six unrelated <i>Eunectes murinus</i>.

<p>Allele frequencies and probablities estimated from six unrelated <i>Eunectes murinus</i>.</p

Neonates found in the oviduct of the focal mother (Emu-01) that had been isolated from other snakes for seven years.

<p>a. Two fully developed neonates, 2015-OS1 and 2015-OS2 (shown with arrows) were found in the oviduct as well as multiple undeveloped eggs. Unfortunately, both neonates were found dead. b. 2015-OS1 was a fully developed female neonate. c. 2015-OS2 was also a fully developed female neonate.</p