Construction of yeast artificial chromosomes containing barley DNA and the identification of clones carrying copies of the repeated element BIS-1

AFLP-based fine mapping of the Mlo gene to a 30-kb DNA segment of the barley genome

Resistance of barley (Hordeum vulgare) to the powdery mildew fungus Erysiphe graminis f.sp. hordei is conferred by several dominant genes, but also by recessive alleles of the Mlo locus mapping on the long arm of chromosome 4. In addition, this single-factor-mediated resistance is active against all known physiological races of the parasite. Thus the mechanism underlying mlo-mediated resistance should differ substantially from that mediated by the dominant genes. A positional cloning strategy to isolate the Mlo gene from the barley genome, the size of which is almost double the size of the human genome, has been designed. The AFLP technique was employed to identify markers tightly linked to the Mlo locus and to produce a local high-resolution genetic map. The use of this high-volume marker technology allowed the rapid screening of approximately 250,000 loci for linkage to Mlo. A large number of Mlo-linked AFLP markers were identified, one of which cosegregated with Mlo on the basis of more than 4000 meiotic events. A four-genome-equivalent barley YAC library (average insert size 480 kb) was constructed and screened with this cosegregating marker. Four YACs containing this marker were isolated and subsequent characterization by AFLP-based physical mapping allowed the physical delimitation of the Mlo locus to a DNA segment of 30 kb.

Conservation of fine-scale DNA marker order in the genomes of rice and the Triticeae

DNA markers distribute over large chromosomal regions exhibit conservation of order (collinearity) in different cereal species, but it is not known whether this is maintained on a finer scale, i.e. < or = 2 cM. To address this, sets of two or more genetically linked DNA markers were localised to yeast artificial chromosomes containing rice DNA inserts. Linkage analysis of these DNA markers in barley revealed complete correspondence with their genetic order in rice, the distance between linked sequences on rice chromosomes being < 1.6 cM or < or = 1 + 10(6) bp (1 Mb). Thus, DNA markers separated in this range are collinear in rice, barley and, by inference, other members of the Triticeae. These results are discussed with respect to the use of rice as a key system for the isolation of cereal genes.

Organization of retro-element and stem-loop repeat families in the genomes and nuclei of cereals

Sequences homologous to the retro-element BIS-1 and the stem-loop repeat Hi-10 are present in the genomes of a number of cereal species. A detailed characterization of these elements indicated that they are non-randomly organized in the genomes of at least two of these species, namely barley and rye. In contrast to the BIS-1 retro-elements, the stem-loop repeats are also non-randomly organized into discrete domains in interphase nuclei from barley and rye. Features of the organization of these repeats along chromosomes and within interphase nuclei of rye, barley and rice are discussed.

Construction and characterization of a bacterial artificial chromosome library of Sorghum bicolor

The construction of representative large insert DNA libraries is critical for the analysis of complex genomes. The predominant vector system for such work is the yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) system. Despite the success of YACs, many problems have been described including: chimerism, tedious steps in library construction and low yields of YAC insert DNA. Recently a new E.coli based system has been developed, the bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) system, which offers many potential advantages over YACs. We tested the BAC system in plants by constructing an ordered 13,440 clone sorghum BAC library. The library has a combined average insert size, from single and double size selections, of 157 kb. Sorghum inserts of up to 315 kb were isolated and shown to be stable when grown for over 100 generations in liquid media. No chimeric clones were detected as determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization of ten BAC clones to metaphase and interphase S.bicolor nuclei. The library was screened with six sorghum probes and three maize probes and all but one sorghum probe hybridized to at least one BAC clone in the library. To facilitate chromosome walking with the BAC system, methods were developed to isolate the proximal ends of restriction fragments inserted into the BAC vector and used to isolate both the left and right ends of six randomly selected BAC clones. These results demonstrate that the S. bicolor BAC library will be useful for several physical mapping and map-based cloning applications not only in sorghum but other related cereal genomes, such as maize. Furthermore, we conclude that the BAC system is suitable for most large genome applications, is more 'user friendly' than the YAC system, and will likely lead to rapid progress in cloning biologically significant genes from plants.

Stabilisation of a yeast artificial chromosome containing plant DNA using a recombination-deficient host

The large genomes of many plant species contain numerous dispersed repeat sequences. The problem of large-scale structural instability due to the presence of such repeats in yeast artificial chromosome (YAC) clones was assessed. The feasibility of stabilising plant sequences prone to rearrangement in YACs was demonstrated using a host yeast strain deficient in recombination.