Scientists have used mass spectrometry in order to create the first rice proteome database - OryzaPG.
The data was published in BMC Plant Biology by Mohamed Helmy, Masaru Tomita and Yasushi Ishihama, who created the system.
Explaining that the database can be a valuable source of information for those working with shotgun proteogenomics, the scientists note that it could help with genome annotation.
Mass spectrometry was harnessed to create the data, with the researchers noting that the tool used "offers high accuracy for analysing tryptic digests from undifferentiated cultured rice cells".
They explain that scientists wishing to use the system as a point of reference can filter by gene, chromosome, cDNA or protein.
"OryzaPG is the first proteogenomics-based database of the rice proteome, providing peptide-based expression profiles, together with the corresponding genomic origin, including the annotation of novelty for each peptide," they comment.
BMC Plant Biology is an open-access journal that publishes peer-reviewed scientific papers.