ABSTRACT
Genomic resources refer to different types of data containing information on the organization, structure, evolution and function of elements present in a genome. These resources integrate “gene” expression regulatory network data, from epigenetics to metabolites. This includes also the physical and functional interactions these molecules might have within a cell/tissue/organ/organism. The central genomic resource for an organism, on which most of the others resources refer to, is the complete sequence of its genome. To generate it, the nuclear DNA (talking inclusively here about eukaryotes) is extracted, sequenced, assembled and annotated. This so-called “reference genome” has to be seen in most cases as a consensus genome of the concerned species, since it is very rare that such a genome sequence comes from only one individual. The Human reference genome has been obtained about 15 years ago, just at the entry in the 21st century (The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium 2000). Getting a reference genome is essential, but that is only a starting point: a genome is a potential atlas of all the possible functions of a cell, and it contains the footprints
1 INRA, UMR1349, Institute of Genetics, Environment and Plant Protection, Domaine de la Motte, BP35327, 35653 Le Rheu cedex, France.
