Plant & Animal Genomes XIII Conference

January 15-19, 2005
Town & Country Convention Center
San Diego, CA

The Korea Brassica Genome Project: Current Status And Prospect

Beom-Seok Park¹ , Yong Pyo Lim² , Jang-Ho Hahn¹ , Ho-Il Kim¹

¹  National Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology (NIAB), 224 Suinro Gwonseon-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 441-707, Republic of Korea

²  Chungnam National University, 220 Gung-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-764, Republic of Korea

The complete genome sequence of an organism provides unlimited information in the sequenced organism as well as in the related taxa. According to the guidance of the Multinational Brassica Genome Project (MBGP), the Korea Brassica Genome Project (KBGP) is aiming to complete sequencing the chromosome 1 of Brassica rapa. We have selected 48 seed BACs on chromosome 1 using EST genetic makers and FISH analysis. Among them, around 30 BAC clones are sequenced and their homeologous partener regions on Arabidopsis genome are identified resulting in high-resolution comparative map between Brassica chromosome 1 and Arabidopsis genome. In silico chromosome walking and clone validation based on the comparative map and BAC end sequences are successfully applied for extending sequence contigs. Additionally, we defined the (peri)centromeric heterochromatin blocks with centromeric tandem repeat, 45s rDNA, and centromeric retrotransposons. In depth sequence analysis of five homeologous BAC clones and a Arabidopsis chromosomal region reveals overall collinearity with 82% sequence similarity and represents that Brassica genome is undertaken triplication and subsequent gene losses after speciation with Arabidopsis. Based on our accumulated data, we will suggest a novel strategy for complete and efficient sequencing of Brassica genome using comparative genomics with Arabidopsis and STC