biology

The Arabidopsis Information Resource

The Arabidopsis Information Resource is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Arabidopsis Information Resource rather than just read about it. In short: The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) is a community resource and online model organism database of genetic and molecular biology data for the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, commonly known as mouse-ear cress. TAIR integrates information about the Arabidopsis genome, genes, gene products, natural variants, mutant alleles and plant phenotypes and research literature.

Key takeaways

The Arabidopsis Information Resource belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Arabidopsis Information Resource to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Arabidopsis Information Resource from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Arabidopsis Information Resource (TAIR) is a community resource and online model organism database of genetic and molecular biology data for the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, commonly known as mouse-ear cress. TAIR integrates information about the Arabidopsis genome, genes, gene products, natural variants, mutant alleles and plant phenotypes and research literature. Data in TAIR can be retrieved using simple and advanced searches, bulk query and download tools, and in collections of prepared text files. The Arabidopsis genome and annotations can be visualized using the interactive SeqViewer and GBrowse tools. TAIR's biocurators are responsible for acquiring and integrating data from the research literature (functional annotation) as well as for assisting the community in using Arabidopsis data and tools. TAIR collaborates with the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Consortium (ABRC) to allow researchers to search, browse and order seed and DNA stocks. The ABRC's mission is to acquire, preserve and distribute seed and DNA resources that are useful to the Arabidopsis research community. TAIR's community includes over 28,000 registered users and the website draws about 60,000 unique visitors per month. TAIR is supported and maintained by the nonprofit organization Phoenix Bioinformatics, and funded by subscriptions.

TAIR funding history From its inception in 1999 to 2013, TAIR was primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. DBI-0850219). In response to the end of NSF funding, a core group of TAIR staff founded the non-profit organization, Phoenix Bioinformatics, with the aim of finding creative solutions to database sustainability. In September 2013, with the support of Phoenix, TAIR transitioned to subscription revenues. Subscription fees are used to fund continuous data curation and improvements to TAIR's database and tools. TAIR offers a variety of subscription options to access the full, up-to-date resource. To ensure the greatest community access to data, and promote data reuse, subscriber-only data in TAIR is made available to the public one year after its initial release on the TAIR site.

TAIR releases The A. thaliana genome was first plant genome to be completely sequenced in 2000. Since then, the genome has been periodically updated and revised to reflect changes and incorporate new information as technology advances.

TIGR1 - Following the original Arabidopsis thaliana genome sequence published in Nature in December 2000, a standalone Arabidopsis database update released in January 2001, quickly followed by incremental updates TIGR2-3. TIGR4 - A major update introducing spliced alignments, UTR annotations, and alternative splicing, released in April 2003.

TIGR5 - The final TIGR release provided in January 2004. TAIR6 - The first TAIR publication, released in November 2005 TAIR7-10 - Released between 2007 and 2010, TAIR7-10 updated loci and added newly discovered genes. TAIR10 was integrated into GenBank. Araport11 - A complete reannotation of the entire genome released in November 2016. TAIR12 - The latest reannotation of the Arabidopsis thaliana genome, and the first to be completed without grant funding. Available under accession number PRJEB100887 at the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) and National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), released Feb 13, 2026.

References

External links The Arabidopsis Information Resource

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Arabidopsis Information Resource

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Arabidopsis Information Resource claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Arabidopsis Information Resource before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Arabidopsis Information Resource ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Arabidopsis Information Resource

In research: The Arabidopsis Information Resource appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Arabidopsis Information Resource in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Arabidopsis Information Resource is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Arabidopsis thaliana, Model organism databases, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Arabidopsis Information Resource outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Arabidopsis Information Resource in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Arabidopsis Information Resource means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Arabidopsis Information Resource out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Arabidopsis Information Resource in simple terms?

Why does The Arabidopsis Information Resource matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Arabidopsis Information Resource?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Arabidopsis Information Resource.