PlantDB – a versatile database for managing plant research

Vivien Exner , Matthias Hirsch-Hoffmann , Wilhelm Gruissem and Lars Hennig

Institute of Plant Sciences & Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, ETH Zurich, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland

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Plant Methods 2008, 4:1doi:10.1186/1746-4811-4-1


Published:	8 January 2008

Abstract

Background

Research in plant science laboratories often involves usage of many different species, cultivars, ecotypes, mutants, alleles or transgenic lines. This creates a great challenge to keep track of the identity of experimental plants and stored samples or seeds.

Results

Here, we describe PlantDB – a Microsoft^®Office Access database – with a user-friendly front-end for managing information relevant for experimental plants. PlantDB can hold information about plants of different species, cultivars or genetic composition. Introduction of a concise identifier system allows easy generation of pedigree trees. In addition, all information about any experimental plant – from growth conditions and dates over extracted samples such as RNA to files containing images of the plants – can be linked unequivocally.

Conclusion

We have been using PlantDB for several years in our laboratory and found that it greatly facilitates access to relevant information.