Plant & Animal Genomes XI Conference

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

Workshop: Compositae
            

IDENTIFYING CANDIDATE DOMESTICATION GENES IN LETTUCE AND SUNFLOWER: EVIDENCE FROM COMPARATIVE EST ANALYSES

Indiana University, Department of Biology, 142 Jordan Hall, Bloomington, IN 47405

An extensive expressed sequence tag (EST) database has been generated for domesticated and wild forms of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa). We are using a comparative analysis of EST sequences to identify genes with high rates of evolution that may be involved in divergence between the cultivated and wild lines of sunflower and lettuce. These genes are evolving quickly due to positive selection; therefore, they are likely involved in adaptive divergence at the protein level and are, therefore, likely candidates for domestication genes. Initial results indicate that gene expression is relatively conserved across lines; however, a number of rapidly evolving genes have been identified in both sunflower and lettuce. Furthermore, several ESTs have been identified that appear to be unique to only one form of either species. Further studies will be aimed at identifying the function of these candidate domestication genes.