he creation of CBGP had its origin in the perception of a two-fold necessity: to continue doing basic research at a competitive level, and to respond to the demands of new products, processes and services by the economic agents related to plant biology. In the last few years, knowledge on plant biology has progressed to an unprecedented pace. A major cause for this progress is the development of innovative technologies that allow efficient and global analyses of genome structure, information and expression. The new technologies are rooted in advances in the sequencing of DNA and proteins, in the use of microchips, in the automation of many laboratory procedures, and in the possibility of handling large amounts of information through bioinformatic tools. Thus, in a few years, the stage has changed from that of knowing the sequence of a relatively small number of genes, into knowing the complete genome sequence of several plant species, including model plants, such as Arabidopsis thaliana or Brachipodium distachyon, and important crops such as rice, maize, soybean, lucerne, squash or poplar, as well as of many micro-organisms involved in positive (mutualistic) or negative (pathogenic) symbioses with plants.

Strategic objectives of CBGP are:

1. Generation of knowledge on the genomics and biotechnology of plants and plant-interacting organisms.
2. Development of new technologies and tools for functional analyses.
3. Development of new products and processes relevant to the productive sectors.
4. Transmission of information and implementation of educational programmes for scientists and technicians.