WA — centre of the lupin universe

Perth is to become the home for the world's database on lupin genes.

The database, called LupinDB, will be set up at Murdoch University. It is the first of its kind for lupins.

It will keep information on the linkage between genes and genetic markers and allow genetic maps to be displayed on the World Wide Web.

The huge amount of information generated by gene mapping has made a database essential for collation and easier interpretation of genetic maps.

The database will help lupin breeders to understand the genetic basis of certain traits, making it easier for them to select parental lines to produce varieties with desired traits, such as low-alkaloid content, early flowering, reduced pod shattering, flower colour and resistance to disease and environmental stress.

This will help save breeders time and money by reducing the amount of breeding in the field required to produce lupins with the required traits

The database was the idea of Murdoch University researcher Dr Rob Potter, the database's curator, and is a joint effort between the Murdoch-based State Agricultural Biotechnology Centre (SABC) and the Murdoch Bioinformatics Research Group (MBRG). Financial support has come from the Grains Research and Development Corporation of Australia and the involvement of the Australian Lupin Breeding Program.

Lupins are a grain legume used by farmers in crop rotation to improve the nutritional content of soil. They are also used as stock-feed and one species is eaten as a snack food in Mediterranean countries. WA is the largest producer of lupins worldwide, with more than one million hectares of lupins grown each year.

Dr Potter said he believed the development of the database would raise the profile of Murdoch University worldwide and attract external grants.

"I am hoping it will grow to be a focal point for all lupin research, not just gene mapping and breeding," he said. "Lupins are not a big crop worldwide, but there is a lot of potential for them to be major crop."

Sarah Brien, a research assistant in the SABC, has been mapping lupin genes for the past five years and has produced the best data in the world for the narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius). Database manager David Schibeci of MBRG has been converting genetic information produced by Ms Brien into a format for the database

The database will allow anyone around to read or contribute to the data. Similar databases exist for other crops, such as the soybean database SoyBase at Iowa State University.

The URL for the database is www.lupindb.org.

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