Painting the chromosomes of Brachypodium: Current status and future prospects

Dominika Ewa Idziak, Alexander Betekhtin, Elzbieta Wolny, Karolina Lesniewska, Jonathan Wright, Melanie Febrer, Michael W. Bevan, Glyn Jenkins, Robert Hasterok

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Chromosome painting is one of the most powerful and spectacular tools of modern molecular cytogenetics, enabling complex analyses of nuclear genome structure and evolution. For many years, this technique was restricted to the study of mammalian chromosomes, as it failed to work in plant genomes due mainly to the presence of large amounts of repetitive DNA common to all the chromosomes of the complement. The availability of ordered, chromosome-specific BAC clones of Arabidopsis thaliana containing relatively little repetitive genomic DNA enabled the first chromosome painting in dicotyledonous plants. Here, we show for the first time chromosome painting in three different cytotypes of a monocotyledonous plant—the model grass, Brachypodium distachyon. Possible directions of further detailed studies are proposed, such as the evolution of grass karyotypes, the behaviour of meiotic chromosomes, and the analysis of chromosome distribution at interphase.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)469-479
Number of pages11
JournalChromosoma
Volume120
Issue number5
Early online date11 Jun 2011
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2011

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