Mining,characterization, and exploitation of EST-derived microsatellites in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gossypium barbadense</Emphasis>

Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have been widely applied as molecular markers in genetic studies. However, the number of ex-pressed sequence tags (ESTs) and SSR markers from Gossypium barbadense is fewer than those from other cotton species. In this study, EST-SSR distribution from G. barbadense was characterized and new G. barbadense-derived EST-SSR markers were de-termined on the basis of the ESTs obtained by randomly sequencing 2 cDNA libraries associated with fiber development in G. barbadense. By mining 9697 non-redundant ESTs, a total of 638 SSR loci derived from 595 ESTs were observed. In G. barba-dense, the frequency of ESTs containing SSRs was 6.13%, with an average of 1 SSR in every 10.4 kb of EST sequence. Further-more, trinucleotide was found to be the most abundant repeat type among 2–6-nucleotide repeat types. It accounted for 26.6% of the total, followed by the hexanucleotide (26.0%) and pentanucleotide repeats (25.9%). Among all the repeat motifs, (AAG)n accounted for the highest proportion. EST-SSR primer pairs were developed using the Primer3 program, and the redundant primers were removed using the virtual PCR approach. As a result, 380 non-redundant EST-SSR primer pairs were developed and used to detect polymorphisms between the mapping parents G. hirsutum ‘TM-1’ and G. barbadense ‘Hai7124’ for constructing linkage groups in cultivated allotetraploid cotton. Out of these, 98 (25.8%) primer pairs detected polymorphisms. Finally, 95 polymorphic loci from 82 primer pairs were integrated into the backbone genetic map; of these, 42 were mapped into the A subgenome and 53 into the D subgenome. The present work provided the foundation for constructing saturated genetic maps and conducting comparative genomic studies on different cotton species.     

Studies of new EST-SSRs derived from Gossypium barbadense

Existing cotton EST-SSR markers are mostly derived from Gossypium arboreum and Gossypium hir-sutum, but EST-SSR markers from Gossypium barbadense are scarce. One hundred and nineteen EST-SSRs were developed based on 98 unique ESTs from a cDNA library constructed in our laboratory using developing fibers from G. barbadense cv. Pima3-79. Among the SSRs, trinucleotide AAG appeared at a high frequency of 11.76%. 36 accessions (consisting of 13 diploids of the A genome, 11 diploids of the D genome and 12 allotetraploids of the AD genome) were employed to test new EST-SSRs. 76 EST-SSRs were successfully amplified, and 313 polymorphic fragments were yielded, with an average of 4.11 fragments per primer pair. The PIC ranged from 0.17 to 0.95 with an average of 0.53. Based on Jaccard’s genetic similarity coefficient, these 36 accessions were clustered into three groups. 21 EST-SSRs exhibited polymorphisms in BC1 population ((Emian22 × Pima3-79) × Emian22), 24 polymor- phic loci were generated, while 22 of the 24 polymorphic loci were integrated with our interspecific BC1 backbone genetic linkage map, and anchored in 12 chromosomes. This study effectively proved that EST-SSRs from G. barbadense are valuable for genetic diversity analysis and genetic mapping.     

Development of SSR markers from ESTs of gramineous species and their chromosome location on wheat

A total of 407,663 expressed sequence tags （ESTs） of wheat, barley, maize, rice, and sorghum, obtained from GenBank/dbEST, were used to search for simple sequence repeats （SSRs）. A total of 10,253 EST-SSRs, which accounted for 2.52% of all the ESTs, were identified. Using Primer Premier 5.0, 1367 EST-SSR primer pairs were designed, of which 715 with high quality were synthesized. The 715 primer pairs were tested on wheat, rice, maize, cotton, and soybean under the same PCR conditions, and the effective primer pairs in the five crops were 500 （69.93%）, 383 （53.57%）, 452 （63.22%）, 357 （49.93%）, and 388 （56.27%）, respectively. This indicated a high transferability of EST-SSR markers between far-ranging species. In addition, 139 EST-SSR primer pairs with 240 loci were localized on all the 21 wheat chromosomes by using Chinese Spring nulli-tetrasomic lines of wheat.     

Development, chromosome location and genetic mapping of EST-SSR markers in wheat

A number of 151695 wheat expression sequence tags （ESTs） that originated from GenBank/dbEST from July 14, 2003 to August 24, 2004 were used to search for simple sequence repeats （SSRs） with motif 2-5 bp, and 2038 simple sequence repeats （EST-SSRs）, which accounted for 1.34% of EST database, were identified. Based on these SSR sequences, 249 EST-SSR primer pairs and 166 amplified clear bands in various wheat cultivars were designed. These EST-SSR markers can be used as new molecular markers in wheat and related species. Using Chinese Spring nulli-tetrasomic lines, 93 EST-SSR primer pairs and 193 EST-SSR loci were located on 19 wheat chromosomes except for 4A and 4B. Forty-three loci were mapped on 11 chromosomes of the genetic framework map previously constructed using recombinant inbred lines.     

Screening microsatellite markers from EST sequences of bay scallop Argopecten irradians

Seventy-five simple sequence repeats （SSRs） were identified by the bioinformatic analysis from 5008 expressed sequence tags （ESTs） of Argopecten irradians. Among the SSRs, the number of repeat nucleotide varied from 2 to 6. Dinucleotide and trinueleotide repeat motifs were dominant in EST-SSRs of bay scallop, with a proportion of 80% over the total screened SSRs. Twenty-nine pairs of primer were designed based on the flank sequences of the selected ESTs using the software of Primet 5, and verified under the given PCR reaction condition. Eighteen of the 29 primer pairs resulted in the expected products, while the remaining either failed to produce any fragments or yielded products over expected size. Thirteen of the 18 SSRs, accounting for 72%, were detected to show polymorphism in the examined scallop samples. A preliminary test in this study indicated that the majority of the identified SSRs were informative in the cultured bay scallops, making them suitable for the population and other genetic analysis. EST-SSR markers have more advantages than the traditional genomic-derived SSRs and there is a wide range of application in comparative mapping, functional gene cloning and marker assisted selection. This research provides a reference to the identification of EST-SSRs with relative bioinformatic analysis from aquaculture species, as well as to those with a large number of ESTs.     

湿地松转录组SSR分析及EST-SSR标记开发

【目的】湿地松是南方地区优先推广的优质产脂树种。但湿地松分子遗传基础薄弱,基因组序列信息匮乏,影响了湿地松基因组学的深入研究。目前,湿地松分子研究所用的SSR标记主要来自其他近缘种或利用公共数据库中有限的基因序列资源开发的SSR标记,其多态性和通用性较差。为解决这一问题, 笔者根据湿地松转录组测序数据开发EST-SSR位点,并揭示其在转录组序列中的分布类型及特征,为湿地松分子标记辅助育种奠定基础。【方法】利用MISA软件对转录组序列进行SSRs查找和分布特征分析。查找标准参数设置为: 单核苷酸重复>10次,二核苷酸重复>6次,三、四、五、六核苷酸重复>5次。根据SSR位点两端的保守区域,利用Primer3.0设计并随机挑选120对SSR引物,通过琼脂糖电泳和毛细管电泳对来自美国和吉安的113份家系个体进行遗传多样性分析,确定引物多态性。【结果】79 574条unigenes序列中搜索到3 818个SSR位点,出现频率为4.80%,平均18.27 kb出现1个SSR位点,3 373个unigenes含有SSR位点,SSR发生频率(含SSR位点的序列数/搜索序列总数)为4.24%,其中2 980条序列含1个SSR位点,含1个以上SSR位点的序列有393条。在检测到的3 818个SSR标记中,单核苷酸分布最多,其次是二核苷酸和三核苷酸,SSR数量分别占总数的63.54%、19.15%和16.27%,而四、五、六核苷酸重复类型所占比例较小,分别为0.52%、0.13%和0.31%。SSR重复单元的重复次数分布在5~22次之间,除单核苷酸重复外的1 391个SSR中,重复5次的数量最多,为498个(35.80%);重复6次和7次的次之,分别为417个(29.98%)和198个(14.23%);重复10次以上的仅有38个(2.73%)。在检测到的731个二核苷酸重复SSR中,最常出现的重复单元为AT/AT,数量为491个(12.86%),AG/CT和AC/GT两种类型的重复单元出现的次数次之,分别为156(4.09%)和81个(2.12%)。在检测到的621个三核苷酸重复中,AAT/ATT是出现频率最高的单元,共139个(3.64%),其次是AAG/CTT,共122个(3.20%)。3 818个SSR中有24.59%的位置未知,其余的SSR则分布在非编码区域(untranslated region,UTR)或者编码区(coding sequence,CDS)上,分布数量表现为3'UTR>5'UTR>CDS。参试的120对SSR引物,有92对扩增成功(76.78%),其中24对呈现多态(20%)。24对引物(13个二核苷酸重复、7个三核苷酸重复和4个四核苷酸重复)共检测出81个等位基因,每个位点的等位基因数为2~9,平均为3.38个。多态性信息含量(polymorphism information content,PIC)为0.103~0.726,平均为0.349。【结论】通过对湿地松转录组数据的挖掘,共获得 3 818个SSR位点,主要重复单元为AT/AT和AAT/ATT,可扩增出多态性位点的引物重复单元以二、三核苷酸重复为主。基于湿地松转录组序列的SSR标记开发是可行的。     

杉木EST-SSR与基因组SSR引物开发

利用已经公布的杉木444条EST序列和未公布的杉木基因组文库中1 142条基因序列,进行引物开发效率的比较。去冗余后,利用MISA 搜索SSR 位点,分别得到109个和39个含有SSR的 位点。杉木EST序列中SSR分布密度为964.58个/Mbp,基因组中平均每Mbp出现1 037.24个SSR。在两个独立来源的数据库序列中,六核苷酸重复均为最多的重复类型,且AT-rich的重复类型占较大比例。AGC/CTG是杉木EST序列和基因组库中最多的三碱基重复,通过Primer 3.0分别设计出SSR引物95对和37对。为考察设计引物在杉木不同种源(群体)中的有效性,取12个种源(个体)的优良个体, 利用随机抽取的10个EST-SSR和8个gSSR(基因组SSR)进行引物筛选,结果表明:EST-SSR和gSSR各有4对引物在12个种源(个体)中表现出明显的多态性,多态率分别为40%和50%。8对多态性的SSR引物共扩增出 25 个多态性等位位点,平均每个引物产生 3.125 个多态性等位位点,平均有效的等位位点为2.399 5,PIC平均值为0.519 1; Hot平均为0.307 4。其中gSSR标记在检测群体间存在较大的分化,4个gSSR比4个EST-SSR扩增出更多的等位位点数、平均等位位点数,以及更大的PIC值。     

Analysis of simple sequence repeats markers derived from Phytophthora sojae expressed sequence tags

Five thousand and eight hundred publicly available expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of Phytophthora sojae were electronically searched and 415 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) were identified in 369 ESTs. The average density of SSRs was one SSR per 8.9 kb of EST sequence screened. The most frequent repeats were trinucleotide repeats (50.1%) and the least frequent were tetranucleotide repeats (8.2%). Forty primer pairs were designed and tested on 5 strains of P. sojae. Thirty-three primer pairs had successful PCR amplifications. Of the 33 functional primer pairs, 28 primer pairs produced characteristic SSR bands of the expected size, and 15 primer pairs (45.5%) detected polymorphism among 5 tested strains of P. sojae. Based on the polymorphisms detected with 20 EST-SSR markers, the 5 tested strains of P. sojae were clustered into 3 groups. In this study, the SSR markers of P. sojae were developed for the first time. These markers could be useful for identification, genetic variation study, and molecular mapping of P. sojae and its relative species.     

松属GAs相关EST SSR标记与火炬松×洪都拉斯加勒比松苗高相关性分析

以火炬松×洪都拉斯加勒比松F1代群体为研究对象,从松树PGI（松类基因索引）数据中筛选出13个与赤霉素（GAs）代谢有关的序列。设计了这13条序列的EST SSR引物对,并筛选出4对引物作为F1代检测的较好的标记。4对引物PCR分析显示在2个亲本和39个子代中共扩增出1 014个多态性位点,其中,杂种F1代扩增出的位点数中有50.19 %与父本相同,5217 %与母本相同,这表明母本（火炬松）和父本（加勒比松）杂交能够得到获得双亲遗传物质的新杂种。4个引物检测的26个等位基因位点中有6个与苗龄6个月的苗高有显著或极显著的相关性,有5个位点与苗龄9个月的苗高有显著或极显著相关性。这为早期选择提供了较好的分子标记。     

Molecular cloning, chromosomal mapping and expression analysis of disease resistance gene homologues in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Resistance-like sequences have been amplified from first strand cDNA and genomic DNA of rice by PCR using oligonucleotide primers designed from sequence motifs conserved between resistance genes of tobacco andArabidopsis thaliana. 3 PCR clones, designatedOsr1, Osr2 andOsr3 which were 98% identical in nucleotide sequence level, have been found to be significantly homologous to known plant resistance genes and all contained the conserved motifs of NBS-LRR type resistance genes, such as P-loop, kinase2a, kinase3a and transmembrane domain.Southern hybridization revealed that rice resistance gene hornologueswere organized as a cluster in the genome. RFLP mapping using a DH population derived from anindica/japonka cross (Zhaiyeqing 8/Jingxi 17) and an RFLP linkage map assigned two copies ofOsrl and one copy ofOsr3 to the distal position of chromosome 12 where a blast resistance QTL has been mapped previously. Northern blot analysis showed thatOsrl gene was constitutively transcribed in rice leaves, shoots and roots. Further study concerning isolation of full-length cDNAs would be conducive to elucidating the functions of these genes.     

Cloning and characterization of a gene encoding cysteine proteases from senescent leaves of Gossypium hirsutum

A gene encoding a cysteine proteinase was isolated from senescent leave of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) cv liaomian No. 9 by utilizing rapid amplification of cDNA end spolymerase chain reaction (RACE-PCR), and a set of consensus oligonucleotide primers was designed to anneal the conserved sequences of plant cysteine protease genes. The cDNA, which designated Ghcysp gene, contained 1368 bp terminating in a poly(A)^ trail, and included a putative 5‘(98 bp) and a 3‘(235 bp) non-coding region. The opening reading frame (ORF) encodes polypeptide 344 amino acids with the predicted molecular mass of 37.88 kD and theoretical pl of 4.80. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with the sequence in the GenBank database has shown considerable sequence similarity to a novel family of plant cysteine proteases. This putative cotton Ghcysp protein shows from 67% to 82% identity to the other plants. All of them share catalytic triad of residues, which are highly conserved in three regions. Hydropaths analysis of the amino acid sequence shows that the Ghcysp is a potential membrane protein and localizes to the vacuole, which has a transmembrane helix between resides 7-25. A characteristic feature of Ghcysp is the presence of a putative vacuole-targeting signal peptide of 19-amino acid residues at the N-terminal region. The expression of Ghcysp gene was determined using northern blot analysis. The Ghcysp mRNA levels are high in development senescent leaf but below the limit of detection in senescent root, hypocotyl, faded flower, 6 d post anthesis ovule, and young leaf.     

Recognition of a chromosome truncation site associated with alpha-thalassaemia by human telomerase

Telomeres define the ends of chromosomes; they consist of short tandemly repeated DNA sequences loosely conserved in eukaryotes (G1-8(T/A)1-4). Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein which, in vitro, recognizes a single-stranded G-rich telomere primer and adds multiple telomeric repeats to its 3' end by using a template in the RNA moiety. In conjunction with other components, telomerase may balance the loss of telomeric repeats due to DNA replication. Another role of telomerase may be the de novo formation of telomeres. In eukaryotes like Tetrahymena, this process is an integral part of the formation of macronuclear chromosomes. In other eukaryotes this process stabilizes broken chromosomes. A case of human alpha-thalassaemia is caused by a truncation of chromosome 16 that has been healed by the addition of telomeric repeats (TTAGGG)n. Using an in vitro assay, I show here that human telomerase correctly recognizes the chromosome 16 breakpoint sequence and adds (TTAGGG)n repeats. The DNA sequence requirements are minimal and seem to define two modes of DNA recognition by telomerase.     

油茶基因组微卫星特征分析

对油茶基因组约10%覆盖度的DNA序列进行微卫星查找,共获得11 344个重复单元长度为1～6碱基的微卫星。在此基础上,通过对这些微卫星序列分析发现:在油茶基因组中长度为二核苷酸的微卫星重复单元最为丰富,占27.1%;在单碱基重复和二碱基重复这两种类型中,最主要的优势重复单元分别是A/T以及AT/TA、AG/TC。三碱基、四碱基、五碱基重复类型中,(AAN)n、(AAAN)n和(AAAAN)n为对应的优势重复单元,这些优势重复单元中富含碱基A和T。油茶基因组中变异程度高的微卫星(长度≥20 bp)约占11.7%。分析还发现,除单核苷酸重复微卫星外,油茶基因组微卫星长度的变异速率与重复单元长度呈负相关,即油茶基因组中长度较短的微卫星变异速率较快,而较长的重复单元变异速度较慢,相对较为稳定。     

Construction and genetic analysis of mutator insertion mutant population in maize

A total of 26718 M1 plants were ob- tained by crossing the active mutator transposon donor parents (Q105, WW51, 115F, V26-2 and 919J) with the recipient parents (Hz85,W328 with Bz gene and S-Mo17Rf3Rf3). The phenotypes of M1 plants were observed in the field. M1 plants were self-pollinated to develop the mutator insertion-mutagenized M2 seeds. The transposition frequency of the mutator in the genome was calculated based on the spotted aleurone phenotype of the M2 seeds. The results showed that: (1) the mutation frequency of M1 phe- notypes in the field was 0.07 in the population of W328×Mu; (2) the mutation frequency of spotted aleurone seeds on the M2 ears was 0.122 in the population of W328×Mu; (3) five S-cytoplasm male-sterile plants were found among 22500 M1 plants of S-Mo17Rf3Rf3×Mu, with the transposition frequency about 2.2×10?4 per locus. 99 flanking se- quences of mutator transposition were amplified by the modified MuTAIL-PCR, and 59 non-redundant sequences with length around 400 bp were obtained. After bioinformatic analysis, 27 sequences of them could be annotated, using non-redundant nucleotide database of maize, rice, and Arabidopsis. 36 se- quences of them were located on the genetic map of maize by comparative genomics, and several flank- ing sequences of mutator insertion were mapped on the single marker locus. Hotspot sequences of mu- tator transposition were revealed by comparing the homologies between the 9-bp target site duplication of the mutator insertion. The putative functions of 8 flanking sequences of mutator transposition had identity with the functions of their correspondingmarker. The constructed mutator insertion mutant population in maize will facilitate the new gene discovery and functional genomics study in maize.     

Inheritance of the delayed gland morphogenesis trait in Australian wild species ofGossypium

Five Australian wild cotton species with the delayed gland morphogenesis trait, as well as G. arboreum, G. davidsonii and four different gland genotypes of G. hirsutum, Gl₂Gl₂Gl₃Gl₃, Gl₂Gl₂gl₃gl₃, gl₂gl₂Gl₃Gl₃, and gl₂gl₂gl₃gl₃, were used in this experiment and 10 interspecific hybrids were obtained by the crossing among them. According to the gland expression on the seeds and plants of the interspecific hybrids, the inheritance of the delayed gland morphogenesis trait of Australian wild cotton species was opened out as follows: (ⅰ) the inheritance of the delayed gland morphogenesis trait was almost the same among the 5 Australian wild cotton species, and the gene or genes which controlled this trait may be located in the same loci. (ⅱ) The glandless seed trait of the Australian wild cotton species was dominant over the glanded seed trait of G. arboreum, a genome A species, and the seeds of interspecific hybrid F₁ between them were glandless. However, it was recessive over the glanded character of genome D species, G.davidsonii, and their F₁ was a typical glanded one. (ⅲ) The glandless seed trait of the Australian wild cotton species was recessive or incomplete dominant over the glanded cotton but dominant over the glandless cotton of G. hirsutum, and the glandless genes (gl₂gl₂gl₃gl₃) of upland cotton had great weakening effect on the glanded plant trait of the Australian wild cotton species on the other hand. For the two main glanded genes of upland cotton, the delayed gland morphogenesis trait of the Australian wild cotton species was dominant epistatic over glandless genes, gl₂gl₂gl₃gl₃, and one of the glanded genes, Gl₂Gl₂, but was recessive epistatic over the other glanded gene, Gl₃Gl₃. Therefore, it is much convenient to use Gl₂Gl₂gl₃gl₃ as the upland cotton parent in the interspecific hybridization and backcrossing afterward, in order to produce the upland cotton germplasm with glandless seeds and glanded plant trait.     

A draft sequence of the rice (Oryza sativa ssp. indicd) genome

The sequence of the rice genome holds fundamental information for its biology, including physiology, genetics, development, and evolution, as well as information on many beneficial phenotypes of economic significance. Using a “whole genome shotgun” approach, we have produced a draft rice genome sequence ofOryza sativa ssp.indica, the major crop rice subspecies in China and many other regions of Asia. The draft genome sequence is constructed from over 4.3 million successful sequencing traces with an accumulative total length of 2214.9 Mb. The initial assembly of the non-redundant sequences reached 409.76 Mb in length, based on 3.30 million successful sequencing traces with a total length of 1797.4 Mb from anindica variant cultivar93-11, giving an estimated coverage of 95.29% of the rice genome with an average base accuracy of higher than 99%. The coverage of the draft sequence, the randomness of the sequence distribution, and the consistency of BIG-ASSEMBLER, a custom-designed software package used for the initial assembly, were verified rigorously by comparisons against finished BAC clone sequences from bothindica andjapanica strains, available from the public databases. Over all, 96.3% of full-length cDNAs, 96.4% of STS, STR, RFLP markers, 94.0% of ESTs and 94.9% unigene clusters were identified from the draft sequence. Our preliminary analysis on the data set shows that our rice draft sequence is consistent with the comman standard accepted by the genome sequencing community. The unconditional release of the draft to the public also undoubtedly provides a fundamental resource to the international scientific communities to facilitate genomic and genetic studies on rice biology. These authors contributed equally to this work.