TropGENE DB is a database that manages genetic and genomic information about tropical crops studied by Cirad. The database is organised into crop specific modules. Three modules will soon be on line including one about sugarcane. Each module includes data on genetic ressources (agro-morphological data, parentages, allelic diversity), information on molecular markers, genetic maps, results of QTL analyses, data from physical mapping, sequences, genes... Aimed for internet, TropGENE was used internally until the development of the Web version in 2002. TropGENE DB was developed using the ACEDB[1] system, ACEDB is an objectoriented system capable of storing and retrieving complex biological information. ACEDB is currently used by many databases (thirty one plant-related databases available from the UK Crop Plant Bioinformatics Network WWW site[2]). ACEDB provides an intuitive objectoriented view of biological data, and a graphical user interface with many specialized data visualization tools, such as genetic map viewer and a sequence annotation display. A set of Perl CGI scripts (AceBrowser, WebAce) have been yet implemented to allow to any ACEDB databases to be browsed via World Wide Web pages. (Texte intégral)