Data mining for simple sequence repeats in expressed sequence tags from barley, maize, rice, sorghum and wheat

Plant genomics projects involving model species and many agriculturally important crops are resulting in a rapidly increasing database of genomic and expressed DNA sequences. The publicly available collection of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from several grass species can be used in the analysis of both structural and functional relationships in these genomes. We analyzed over 260000 EST sequences from five different cereals for their potential use in developing simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The frequency of SSR-containing ESTs (SSR-ESTs) in this collection varied from 1.5% for maize to 4.7% for rice. In addition, we identified several ESTs that are related to the SSR-ESTs by BLAST analysis. The SSR-ESTs and the related sequences were clustered within each species in order to reduce the redundancy and to produce a longer consensus sequence. The consensus and singleton sequences from each species were pooled and clustered to identify cross-species matches. Overall a reduction in the redundancy by 85% was observed when the resulting consensus and singleton sequences (3569) were compared to the total number of SSR-EST and related sequences analyzed (24606). This information can be useful for the development of SSR markers that can amplify across the grass genera for comparative mapping and genetics. Functional analysis may reveal their role in plant metabolism and gene evolution.  

Development and mapping of 2240 new SSR markers for rice (Oryza sativa L.).

A total of 2414 new di-, tri- and tetra-nucleotide non-redundant SSR primer pairs, representing 2240 unique marker loci, have been developed and experimentally validated for rice (Oryza sativa L.). Duplicate primer pairs are reported for 7% (174) of the loci. The majority (92%) of primer pairs were developed in regions flanking perfect repeats > or = 24 bp in length. Using electronic PCR (e-PCR) to align primer pairs against 3284 publicly sequenced rice BAC and PAC clones (representing about 83% of the total rice genome), 65% of the SSR markers hit a BAC or PAC clone containing at least one genetically mapped marker and could be mapped by proxy. Additional information based on genetic mapping and "nearest marker" information provided the basis for locating a total of 1825 (81%) of the newly designed markers along rice chromosomes. Fifty-six SSR markers (2.8%) hit BAC clones on two or more different chromosomes and appeared to be multiple copy. The largest proportion of SSRs in this data set correspond to poly(GA) motifs (36%), followed by poly(AT) (15%) and poly(CCG) (8%) motifs. AT-rich microsatellites had the longest average repeat tracts, while GC-rich motifs were the shortest. In combination with the pool of 500 previously mapped SSR markers, this release makes available a total of 2740 experimentally confirmed SSR markers for rice, or approximately one SSR every 157 kb.  

The comparison of RFLP,RAPD, AFLP and SSR (microsatellite) markers for germplasm analysis

The utility of RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism), RAPD (random-amplified polymorphic DNA), AFLP (amplified fragment length polymorphism) and SSR (simple sequence repeat, microsatellite) markers in soybean germplasm analysis was determined by evaluating information content (expected heterozygosity), number of loci simultaneously analyzed per experiment (multiplex ratio) and effectiveness in assessing relationships between accessions. SSR markers have the highest expected heterozygosity (0.60), while AFLP markers have the highest effective multiplex ratio (19). A single parameter, defined as the marker index, which is the product of expected heterozygosity and multiplex ratio, may be used to evaluate overall utility of a marker system. A comparison of genetic similarity matrices revealed that, if the comparison involved both cultivated (Glycine max) and wild soybean (Glycine soja) accessions, estimates based on RFLPs, AFLPs and SSRs are highly correlated, indicating congruence between these assays. However, correlations of RAPD marker data with those obtained using other marker systems were lower. This is because RAPDs produce higher estimates of interspecific similarities. If the comparisons involvedG. max only, then overall correlations between marker systems are significantly lower. WithinG. max, RAPD and AFLP similarity estimates are more closely correlated than those involving other marker systems.Abbreviations RFLP restriction fragment length plymorphism - RAPD random-amplified polymorphic DNA - AFLP amplified fragment length polymorphism - SSR simple sequence repeat - PCR polymerase chain reaction - TBE Tris-borate-EDTA buffer - MI marker index - SENA sum of effective numbers of alleles  

玉米SSR遗传图谱的构建及产量性状基因定位

利用中国农大培育的高产，多抗性玉米杂交组合农大3138的F2：3家系为材料，构建了具有80对SSR标记的玉米遗传图谱，标记间平均距离25．42，覆盖玉米基因组的2033.4cm，采用随机区组田间设计，考察了230个家系的穗长，秃尖长，穗粗，穗行数，千粒重，穗重，单株粒重，利用区间作图法分析了影响各性状的数量性状基因座位（QTL），共检测到30个QTLs，单个性状的QTLs为3－5个，QTLs解释变异量占总变异量的比例变化范围为9．5％－55．3％。  

基于表达序列标签的微卫星标记(EST-SSRs)研究进展

作为一种新型分子标记,EST-SSR来自表达基因,因而除具备传统基因组来源的SSR标记所有优势外,可能与基因功能表达具有直接或间接关系,从而强化了SSR标记在遗传研究中的应用.本文综述了近几年来EST-SSR用于遗传图谱构建、基因定位、比较基因组学及重要基因筛选和发掘等方面的研究.  

Molecular marker heterozygosity and hybrid performance in indica and japonica rice

An essential assumption underlying markerbased prediction of hybrid performance is a strong linear correlation between molecular marker heterozygosity and hybrid performance or heterosis. This study was intended to investigate the extent of the correlations between molecular marker heterozygosity and hybrid performance in crosses involving two sets of rice materials, 9 indica and 11 japonica varieties. These materials represent a broad spectrum of the cultivated rice gene pool including landraces, primitive cultivars, historically important cultivars, modern elite cultivars and parents of superior hybrids. Varieties within each set were intermated in all possible nonreciprocal pairs resulting in 36 crosses in the indica set and 55 in the japonica set. The F₁s and their parents, 111 entries in total, were examined for performance of seven traits in a replicated field trial. The parents were surveyed for polymorphisms using 96 RFLP and ten SSR markers selected at regular intervals from a published molecular marker linkage map. Molecular marker genotypes of the F₁ hybrids were deduced from the parental genotypes. The analysis showed that, with very few exceptions, correlations in the indica dataset were higher than in that of their japonica counterparts. Among the seven traits analyzed, plant height showed the highest correlation between heterozygosity and hybrid performance and heteorsis in both indica and japonica datasets. Correlations were low to intermediate between hybrid performance and heterozygosity (both general and specific) in yield and yield component traits in both indica and japonica sets, and also low to intermediate between specific heterozygosity and heterosis in the indica set, whereas very little correlation was detected between heterosis and heterozygosity (either general or specific) in the japonica set. In comparison to the results from our previous studies, we concluded that the relationship between molecular marker heterozygosity and heterosis is variable, depending on the genetic materials used in the study, the diversity of rice germplasms and the complexity of the genetic basis of heterosis.  

Development of a microsatellite framework map providing genome-wide coverage in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

 Ninety-four newly developed microsatellite markers were integrated into existing RFLP framework maps of four rice populations, including two doubled haploid, a recombinant inbred, and an interspecific backcross population. These simple sequence repeats (SSR) were predominantly poly(GA) motifs, targetted because of their abundance in rice. They were isolated from a previously described sheared library and a newly constructed enzyme-digested library. Differences in the average length of poly(GA) tracts were observed for clones isolated from the two libraries. The length of GA motifs averaged 21 repeat units for clones isolated from the Tsp-509-digested library, while motifs averaged 17 units for clones from the sheared library. There was no evidence of clustering of microsatellite markers near centromeres or telomeres. Mapping of the 94 newly developed markers as well as of 27 previously reported microsatellites provided genome-wide coverage of the 12 chromosomes, with an average distance of 1 SSLP (simple sequence repeat polymorphism) per 16–20 cM. Received: 13 February 1997/Accepted: 28 February 1997  

用微卫星DNA标记对我国杂交水稻主要恢复系遗传差异的检测分析

选用分布于水稻（Oryza sativaL.)12条染色体上的25对SSR（Simple sequence repeats)引物，分析了生产中广泛应用的35个杂交 水稻恢复系，在35个杂交水稻恢复系材料间共检测出65个等位基因（alleles)，平均每对SSR引物可检测到2.6个等位基因，PIC（Polymorphism index content）值的变动范围为0.206-0.682，平均值为0.414。聚类分析表明，我国杂交 水稻恢复系资源比较丰富，但其遗传差异较小，遗传背景单一，从而在很大程度上限制了我国水稻杂种优势的利用。  

开发SSR引物方法之研究动态Research Progress of Methods of SSR Primers Development

SSR标记是一种基于DNA长度多态性的分子标记技术，是进行群体遗传结构分析、构建遗传连锁图谱非常有效的工具。由于SSR标记是特异引物标记，必须在知道某个物种DNA序列的前提下，才能设计引物进行PCR扩增，故而存在一个引物开发的问题。从SSR标记的发展历程来看，开发SSR引物的方法有经典的构建与筛选基因组文库的方法、微卫星富集法、省略筛库法和数据库搜索法等四种。本文综述了这四种方法的操作流程及其在实际应用中的优缺点,并对近年来SSR引物在相近的物种间转移使用的情况作了介绍. Abstract: SSRs is one of molecular markers technology based on DNA length polymorphism and an efficient tool for population genetic studies and primary genetic linkage maps construction. Because of a special primer marker, It’s necessary to know a species DNA sequence in order to design primers for PCR testing. That is to say, there is a problem of SSR primer development. For the progress of SSR marker technology, the methods of developing SSR primer could be divided into four kinds: traditional constructing and screening genome library procedure, the SSR richment procedure, avoiding screening genome library procedure and database search procedure. This paper reviewed these four methods’operation processes and their advantages and disadvantages. In addition, transferability of SSR primers in closely related species were introduced in recent years.  

Molecular divergence and hybrid performance in rice

This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between genetic distance of the parents based on molecular markers and F₁ performance in a set of diallel crosses involving eight commonly used parental lines in hybrid rice production. The F₁s and their parents were measured for five traits including heading date, plant height, straw weight, grain yield and biomass. The parental lines were assayed for DNA polymorphisms using two classes of markers: 140 probes for restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) and 12 simple sequence repeats (SSRs), resulting in a total of 105 polymorphic markers well spaced along the 12 rice chromosomes. SSRs detected more polymorphism than RFLPs among the eight lines. A cluster analysis based on marker genotypes separated these eight lines into three groups which agree essentially with the available pedigree information. Correlations were mostly low between general heterozygosity based on all the markers and F₁ performance and heterosis. In contrast, very high correlations were detected between midparent heterosis and specific heterozygosity based on the markers that detected significant effects for all the five traits; these correlations may have practical utility in predicting heterosis. The analyses also suggest the existence of two likely heterotic groups in the rice germplasm represented by these eight lines.