USDA-CSREES-NRI PROJECTS DEVELOPING GENOMIC RESOURCES FOR THE ROSACEAE (MALUS)

Authors: Norelli, John; KORBAN, SCHUYLER - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS; Volk, Gayle; ZENG, ZHAO-BANG - NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV; ALDWINCKLE, HERB - CORNELL UNIVERSITY; Bassett, Carole; BEEVER, JONATHAN - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS; FARRELL, ROBERT - PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIV; GASIC, KSENIJA - UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS; Richards, Christopher

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/4/2005
Publication Date: 1/13/2006
Citation: Norelli, J.L., Korban, S., Volk, G.M., Zeng, Z., Aldwinckle, H., Bassett, C.L., Beever, J., Farrell, R., Gasic, K., Richards, C.M. 2006. USDA-CSREES-NRI projects developing genomic resources for the rosaceae (malus). Meeting Proceedings of the Plant and Animal Genome XIV, January 13-18, 2006, San Diego, CA. p. 37.

Interpretive Summary: The National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service is supporting projects to advance knowledge of the genome of Rosaceae plants. The genetic diversity of wild Malus (apple) accessions in the National Plant Germplasm System is being quantified and apportioned in the Volk and Richards laboratories (USDA-NRI Project 2005-35300-15466). Plant exploration trips to Kazakhstan have brought valuable Malus sieversii germplasm to U.S. breeding programs. Genotypic data from 7 unlinked microsatellite loci have been analyzed for 1013 seedling individuals collected from 12 locations within Kazakhstan. A high-resolution physical map for the apple genome is being constructed in the Korban Laboratory (Project 2005-35300-15538). This physical map initially involves fingerprinting of bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones covering ~10x coverage of the apple genome and anchoring these fingerprints to a genetic map of the apple genome highly saturated with EST-SSRs. Tools for the functional genomic analysis of apple are being developed in the laboratories of Norelli, Aldwinckle, Bassett and Farrell (Project 2005-35300-15462). Subtractive cDNA hybridization is being used to characterize ESTs associated with apple’s response to fire blight disease and a high-throughput system for generating RNAi mutants is being developed. Significant progress has been made in the Zeng Laboratory (Project 2005-35300-15469) to develop new procedures to map QTLs based on gene expression traits in whole genomes and to, thereby, study the genetic basis of gene regulation.

Technical Abstract: The National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service is supporting projects to advance knowledge of the genome of Rosaceae plants. The genetic diversity of wild Malus (apple) accessions in the National Plant Germplasm System is being quantified and apportioned in the Volk and Richards laboratories (USDA-NRI Project 2005-35300-15466). Plant exploration trips to Kazakhstan have brought valuable Malus sieversii germplasm to U.S. breeding programs. Genotypic data from 7 unlinked microsatellite loci have been analyzed for 1013 seedling individuals collected from 12 locations within Kazakhstan. A high-resolution physical map for the apple genome is being constructed in the Korban Laboratory (Project 2005-35300-15538). This physical map initially involves fingerprinting of bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones covering ~10x coverage of the apple genome and anchoring these fingerprints to a genetic map of the apple genome highly saturated with EST-SSRs. Tools for the functional genomic analysis of apple are being developed in the laboratories of Norelli, Aldwinckle, Bassett and Farrell (Project 2005-35300-15462). Subtractive cDNA hybridization is being used to characterize ESTs associated with apple’s response to fire blight disease and a high-throughput system for generating RNAi mutants is being developed. Significant progress has been made in the Zeng Laboratory (Project 2005-35300-15469) to develop new procedures to map QTLs based on gene expression traits in whole genomes and to, thereby, study the genetic basis of gene regulation.