title: Interspecific resources: a major tool for quantitative trait locus cloning and speciation research.
abstract: Positional cloning of the quantitative trait locus (QTL) still encounters numerous difficulties, which explains why thousands of QTL have been mapped, while only a few have been identified at the molecular level. Here, we focus on a specific mapping tool that exists in plant and animal model species: interspecific recombinant congenic strains (IRCSs) or interspecific nearly isogenic lines (NILs). Such panels exhibit a much higher sequence diversity than intraspecific sets, thus enhancing the contrasts between phenotypes. In animals, it allows statistical significance to be reached even when using a limited number of individuals. Therefore, we argue that interspecific resources may constitute a major genetic tool for positional cloning and for understanding some bases of speciation mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U567, Institut Cochin, Paris, France.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: L'Hôte
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Laissue
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Serres
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Montagutelli
authors.forename: Reiner A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Veitia
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vaiman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D006801:Humans; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity