TOWARDS THE ISOLATION OF THE CAULIFLOWER OR GENE: IDENTIFICATION OF TIGHTLYLINKED MOLECULAR MARKERS FOR PHYSICAL MAPPING AND COMPARATIVE GENOMICS

Authors: LI, LI - CORNELL UNIVERSITY; Garvin, David

Submitted to: American Society of Plant Physiologists Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/21/2001
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Carotenoids are important for human health and well-being because they serve as precursors of vitamin A synthesis, and may also have chemoprotective activity. It therefore would be desirable to have the capability to increase levels of carotenoids in crops. The cauliflower (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis) Or gene causes significant levels of beta-carotene to accumulate in many tissues. Previous research indicated that the Or-induced accumulation of beta-carotene is associated with large sheet-like structures that can sequester beta-carotene. As a first step toward its isolation, AFLP-based molecular mapping of the Or gene is being conducted. Flanking markers for the Or gene have been identified that define an interval of approximately 2 cM within which the Or gene is located; three additional markers within this interval are completely linked to the Or gene. The cloned AFLP markers are being used both for physical mapping of the Or gene and for identifying the syntenic region of the Arabidopsis genome. This information is serving as the basis for isolating the Or gene either by large-insert DNA library screening or by Brassica-Arabidopsis comparative genomics-based strategies. We expect that by isolating this gene, we will gain new insights into the processes that control carotenoid accumulation in plants. This in turn shall reveal novel strategies for modifying carotenoid content in other crops of greater importance to human diets.