Plant Genome I Conference
Town & Country Conference Center, San Diego, CA, November, 1992.
PG-I: 47pg1
AN AUTOMATED APPROACH TO GENETIC MAPPING WITH RANDOMLY
AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA MARKERS.
L. S. Nelson, G. N. Johnson, M. L. Crawford, W. L. Nance C. D.
Nelson and R. L. Doudrick. U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Southern
Forest Experiment Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory,
Gulfport,
MS.
At least ten thousand Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA
(RAPD) reactions are required to complete even a modest
RAPD-based genetic mapping effort, while more ambitious mapping
projects may eventually require hundreds of thousands of RAPD
react ions. Most molecular genetics laboratories are not
designed to handle this level of production, and efforts to scale
up the production level of RAPD reactions in a research
laboratory by orders of magnitude can be frustrating and time
consuming. We describe a recently completed RAPD laboratory of
our own design which is capable of completing more than three
thousand RAPD reactions per day with minimal space requirements
(about 500 square feet). The laboratory features a robotic
pipettor, custom designed electrophoresis rigs, and a customized
database management system. Future enhancements to the RAPD
laboratory that are currently under development, including an
automated video analysis system, are also briefly described.
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