A plant-transformation-competent BIBAC library from the Arabidopsis thaliana Landsberg ecotype for functional and comparative genomics

The genome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has been sequenced to near completion. To facilitate experimental determination of the function of every gene in the species, we constructed a large-insert library from the Landsberg ecotype using a plant-transformation-competent binary BAC vector, BIBAC2. The library contains 11,520 clones with an estimated average insert size of 162 kb. Of a sample of 102 clones, 17.6% had no inserts; further, in the library as a whole, 287 clones contained chloroplast DNA, and 25 contained mitochondrial DNA. Thus it is estimated that 9,295 clones originated from the nuclear genome, representing a 11.5 x coverage. The library was further characterized by screening with probes corresponding to 180-bp repeats, 5S rDNA, 18S-25S rDNA and 23 single-copy RFLP markers. The results showed that 92 clones contained 180-bp centromeric repeats, 78 contained 5S rDNA and 95 contained 18S-25S rDNA, approximately 1%, 0.8% and 1%, respectively, of the nuclear clones in the library. Screening the library with the 23 RFLP markers showed that each one hybridized to an average of seven clones. This library is the first large-insert DNA library for the widely studied Landsberg erecta strain. It will greatly facilitate gene identification by complementation screening, and will enhance analysis of the structure, organization and evolution of the A. thaliana genome.