A bacterial artificial chromosome-based genetic linkage map of the nematode Pristionchus pacificus.
To understand the evolution of developmental processes, nonmodel organisms in the nematodes, insects, and vertebrates are compared with established model systems. Often, these comparisons suffer from the inability to apply sophisticated technologies to these nonmodel species. In the nematode Pristionchus pacificus, cellular and genetic analyses are used to compare vulva development to that of Caenorhabditis elegans. However, substantial changes in gene function between P. pacificus and C. elegans limit the use of candidate gene approaches in studying P. pacificus mutations. To facilitate map-based cloning of mutations in P. pacificus, we constructed a BAC-based genetic linkage map. A BAC library of 13,440 clones was generated and completely end sequenced. By comparing BAC end and EST sequences between the "wild-type" strain P. pacificus var. California and the polymorphic strain P. pacificus var. Washington, 133 single-stranded conformational polymorphisms were identified. These markers were tested on a meiotic mapping panel of 46 randomly picked F(2) animals after a cross of the two strains, providing the first genetic linkage map of P. pacificus. A mapping strategy using two selected markers per chromosome was devised and the efficiency of this approach was illustrated by the mapping of the Ppa-unc-1/Twitchin gene.
Srinivasan
Jagan
J
Abteilung für Evolutionsbiologie, Max-Planck Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
Sinz
Waltraud
W
Lanz
Christa
C
Brand
Alexandra
A
Nandakumar
Ramkumar
R
Raddatz
Günter
G
Witte
Hanh
H
Keller
Heike
H
Kipping
Isabel
I
Pires-daSilva
André
A
Jesse
Taco
T
Millare
Jun
J
de Both
Michiel
M
Schuster
Stephan C
SC
Sommer
Ralf J
RJ
D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D022202:Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D009348:Nematoda / Q000235:genetics*; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D014960:X Chromosome