Plant & Animal Genomes XI Conference

January 11-15, 2003
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

Poster: Genome Sequencing & ESTs
            

SEQUENCING AND GENE ORGANIZATION OF A PORTION OF RICE CHROMOSOME 11

Waksman Institute, Rutgers University, 190 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8020, USA

Rice forms the staple diet of nearly half of the world's population. Keeping in view the synteny among cereals, a thorough knowledge of the rice genetics would not only be beneficial for rice alone but also for other cereals. Genome sequencing would provide invaluable data, which will go a long way in the manipulation of genes involved in important traits. The rice genome is made up of 430 Mb of DNA spread over 12 chromosomes. An effort to sequence the complete rice genome was initiated through IRGSP (International Rice Genome Sequencing Project) consisting of a consortium of 10 countries. A pre-requisite to genome sequencing is an elaborate high resolution genetic and physical map, which presently consists of 3,267 genetic markers and a YAC-based map with 6,591 EST sites (rgp.dna.affrc.go.jp). One PAC library (RGP) and two BAC libraries (www.genome.clemson.edu) of Oryza sativa ssp. japonica cv Nipponbare form the main basis for the physical map of rice. As part of IRGSP, in addition to a portion on chromosome 10, PGIR had also been assigned two regions spanning 3.6 to 8.6 cM and 27.8 to 33.4 cM on chromosome 11. These two regions encompass 23 and 15 genetic markers and 43 and 23 EST sites, respectively. We report here the sequencing and gene organization of these two regions covering 880 and 970 kb, which are spread over 11 (one sequenced by Wisconsin) and 9 contiguous BACs, respectively.