Temperature-gradient gel electrophoresis as a screening tool for polymorphisms in multigene families.
Information about sequence variability between different copies of a multigene family is indispensable for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms acting on multigene families. However, their high copy number has been a major obstacle to systematic analysis. Exemplified by the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) of the rDNA in Drosophila melanogaster, it is shown how temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) can be used to study sequence polymorphisms in a multigene family. Experimental conditions influencing the melting behavior of the ITS1 fragment are discussed as well as discrepancies between observed and calculated melting patterns.
Schlötterer
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Zoologisches Institut der Universität München, Germany.
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D017344:Genes, Insect; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013696:Temperature
D004275:DNA, Ribosomal