Integrative systems biology: an attempt to describe a simple weed

Genome-scale studies hold great promise for revealing novel plant biology. Because of the complexity of these techniques, numerous considerations need to be made before embarking on a study. Here we focus on the Arabidopsis model system because of the wealth of available genome-scale data. Many approaches are available that provide genome-scale information regarding the state of a given organism (e.g. genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics interactomics, ionomics, phenomics, etc.). Integration of all of these types of data will be necessary for a comprehensive description of Arabidopsis. In this review we propose that ‘triangulation’ among transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics is a meaningful approach for beginning this integrative analysis and uncovering a systems level perspective of Arabidopsis biology.

► Genome-scale studies are now regularly performed in Arabidopsis thaliana. ► Transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics provide a wealth of descriptive information. ► Integration of all genome-scale datasets will enable a systems-level understanding of Arabidopsis.