Development of a core set from a large rice collection using a modified heuristic algorithm to retain maximum diversity.

A new heuristic approach was undertaken for the establishment of a core set for the diversity research of rice. As a result, 107 entries were selected from the 10 368 characterized accessions. The core set derived using this new approach provided a good representation of the characterized accessions present in the entire collection.

PowerCore: a program applying the advanced M strategy with a heuristic search for establishing core sets.

Motivation: Core sets are necessary to ensure that access to useful alleles or characteristics retained in genebanks is guaranteed. We have successfully developed a computational tool named 'PowerCore' that aims to support the development of core sets by reducing the redundancy of useful alleles and thus enhancing their richness.

Results: The program, using a new approach completely different from any other previous methodologies, selects entries of core sets by the advanced M (maximization) strategy implemented through a modified heuristic algorithm.