Plant & Animal Genomes XI Conference

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

Workshop: Forest Trees
            

COMPARATIVE MAPPING IN CONIFERS USING EST MARKERS

¹ Institute of Forest Genetics, Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, Environmental Horticulture Department, University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA

² Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Universita' di Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 11/A, 43100 Parma, Italy

³ Environmental Horticulture Department, University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA

⁴ Institute of Forest Genetics, Pacific Southwest Research Station, USDA Forest Service, 2480 Carson Road, Placerville, CA 95667, USA

We found orthologous genes suitable for comparative mapping and produced genetic maps across loblolly pine, Norway spruce and Douglas-fir using ESTs developed in several conifer species. This study is part of the Conifer Comparative Genomics Project (CCGP) formed as an international collaboration at the Institute of Forest Genetics (USDA Forest Service) to develop orthologous genetic markers, publicly available reference mapping populations that can be shared among different laboratories, and the bioinformatic tools to facilitate comparative mapping. Expressed sequence tag polymorphisms (ESTPs) proved to be the good markers for comparative mapping. They are often polymorphic, orthologous markers that can be studied across different species and represent functional genes. They can be developed relatively easily from already available cDNA/EST libraries and large gene discovery projects. We demonstrate how comparative mapping helps to (1) produce consensus genetic maps within and between species, (2) verify quantitative trait loci (QTLs), (3) identify candidate genes for quantitative and complex traits and (4) understand the evolution of the conifer genome.