title: Description of durum wheat linkage map and comparative sequence analysis of wheat mapped DArT markers with rice and Brachypodium genomes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The importance of wheat to the world economy, together with progresses in high-throughput next-generation DNA sequencing, have accelerated initiatives of genetic research for wheat improvement. The availability of high density linkage maps is crucial to identify genotype-phenotype associations, but also for anchoring BAC contigs to genetic maps, a strategy followed for sequencing the wheat genome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here we report a genetic linkage map in a durum wheat segregating population and the study of mapped DArT markers. The linkage map consists of 126 gSSR, 31 EST-SSR and 351 DArT markers distributed in 24 linkage groups for a total length of 1,272 cM. Through bioinformatic approaches we have analysed 327 DArT clones to reveal their redundancy, syntenic and functional aspects. The DNA sequences of 174 DArT markers were assembled into a non-redundant set of 60 marker clusters. This explained the generation of clusters in very small chromosome regions across genomes. Of these DArT markers, 61 showed highly significant (Expectation < E-10) BLAST similarity to gene sequences in public databases of model species such as Brachypodium and rice. Based on sequence alignments, the analysis revealed a mosaic gene conservation, with 54 and 72 genes present in rice and Brachypodium species, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the present manuscript we provide a detailed DArT markers characterization and the basis for future efforts in durum wheat map comparing.
authors.forename: Pasqualina
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colasuonno
authors.forename: Mastrangelo Anna
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Maria
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari "Aldo Moro", Via Amendola 165/A, Bari 70126, Italy. agata.gadaleta@uniba.it.
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gadaleta
mesh_terms: D058431:Brachypodium / Q000235:genetics*; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D019295:Computational Biology; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005819:Genetic Markers; D018745:Genome, Plant; D005838:Genotype; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics*; D014908:Triticum / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers