title: A molecular genetic analysis of Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter: non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA, 18S rDNA and the transcription factor VP1.
abstract: The non-coding chloroplast DNA sequences of the trnL (UAA) intron and the trnL-trnF (GAA) intergeneric spacer (IGS), the coding sequences of nuclear 18S rDNA, and the transcription factor Vp1 of the cereal tef (Eragrostis tef (Zucc.) Trotter) were studied. No intraspecific variation was found among the 6 studied tef varieties. However, the study displayed that Eragrostis tef has a number of unique traits compared to other grasses. Phylogenetic analysis of the chloroplast DNA gave three grass clades, joining Eragrostis with sorghum and maize in one. In the analysis of the 18S rDNA sequences, the three grass species were joined in a monophyletic trichotomy in the cladogram, in which maize is the most divergent, rice the least and tef intermediate. The Vp1 is highly conserved. The Vp1 phylogeny showed that the tef Vp1-sequence is the hitherto most divergent Vp1-sequence reported from a grass.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Biology, University of Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Espelund
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bekele
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Holst-Jensen
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Jakobsen
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nordal
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D002736:Chloroplasts / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D007438:Introns; D008967:Molecular Biology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D006109:Poaceae / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018744:DNA, Plant; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors