Plant & Animal Genome VI Conference Plant & Animal Genome VI Conference
P19
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Crop Biotechnology Center, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2123, USA
Arabidopsis thaliana is a model species for plant genetic and biological studies because it has a small genome (100 Mb/1C). Although the Arabidopsis genome sequencing project has been started last year, it is expected to complete in ten years. The purposes of our Arabidopsis genomics research are to develop a readily used system for cloning genes and QTLs known only by their phenotypes from this species, and provide a framework for molecular analysis of plant genomes. The BAC contigs will also provide a framework for the Arabidopsis genome sequencing. In previous studies we demonstrated the feasibility of physically mapping plant genomes with BACs and developed a complete set of technologies for rapid development of integrated physical maps of genomes by BAC fingerprinting and contig assembly. Using these technologies, we have fingerprinted over 5,000 BACs randomly selected from the TAMU Arabidopsis BAC library, covering 5 x haploid Arabidopsis genomes. The BAC contig physical map of the genome now is in assembly. To facilitate gene cloning and identification, gene function and interaction studies, and physical map gap filling (if any), we are also developing a binary BAC (BIBAC) library from A. thaliana ecotype Columbia. The results will be reported in the meeting.