title: A core linkage map of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris.
abstract: The bumblebee Bombus terrestris is an economically important pollinator and an emerging model species in quantitative and population genetics. We generated genetic linkage maps for 3 independent mapping populations of B. terrestris. The linkage map with the highest resolution had 21 linkage groups, which adequately represents the haploid chromosome number of B. terrestris (n = 18). This map can be considered saturated, with an average marker distance of 10.3 cM and an estimated genome coverage of 81%. Using flow cytometry, we have estimated the genome size of this species to be 625 Mb. With an estimated total recombination genome length of 2760 cM, this results in a ratio of 226 kb/cM between the physical and genetic genome sizes. A recurring set of microsatellites and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers allowed the alignment of 14 linkage groups between the 3 maps. We propose to adopt this core map as a reference tool for future genetic and molecular work in B. terrestris.
authors.affiliation: ETH Zürich, Institute for Integrative Biology (IBZ), Experimental Ecology Group, ETH-Zentrum CHN, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland. lena.wilfert@env.ethz.ch
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wilfert
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gadau
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schmid-Hempel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D049750:Genome, Insect / Q000235:genetics*; D005838:Genotype; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers