Plant & Animal Genome IX Conference

Poster: Sequencing & EST
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PROGRESS OF THE TRITICEAE GENOME PROJECT IN THE U.S. : EST GENERATION AND EVALUATION

¹ USDA-ARS Western Regional Research Center, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710, USA

² Department of Botany and Plant Science, 4157 Batchelor Hall, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA

³ Department of Plant and Soil Science, MS22122, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA

Wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a widely grown, economically important food crop. Determining the chromosomal organization and biological function of wheat genes would greatly enhance our understanding of wheat biology. However, the large size of the hexaploid wheat genome makes direct genomic sequencing unrealistic at this time. Alternatively, generation of random cDNA (EST) libraries allows large-scale investigation solely of the expressed DNA regions for gene discovery and functional genomic studies in wheat. So far we have generated ESTs from more than 25 cDNA Triticeae libraries made from various tissues, developmental stages and stress conditions. 5' analysis of these sequences has allowed the deposit of over 50,000 wheat ESTs in GenBank to date. Of these, over 20,000 have been identified as potentially unique singleton candidates. Analysis is continuing to further characterize and identify the unique genes from this group. We will present methods used to generate the cDNA libraries, optimize sequencing protocols, and process the large amount of EST data generated. Data will also relate to library quality, extent of redundancy, and efforts to increase the low-abundance transcripts.