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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #142200
Title: DEVELOPMENT OF GENOMIC RESOURCES FOR GARLIC AND ONION: GOALS OF A FUNDED USDA-IFAFS GRANT

Author
item Havey, Michael
item Jenderek, Maria
item SINK, KEN - MICHIGAN STATE UNIV
item TOWN, CHRIS - INST FOR GENOMIC RESRCH

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/2002
Publication Date: 12/5/2002
Citation: Havey, M.J., Jenderek, M.M., Sink, K., Town, C. 2002. Development of genomic resources for garlic and onion: goals of a funded usda-ifafs grant. Meeting Abstract. Proceedings of the National Allium Research Conference.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Enormous genomic resources are being developed for model plants such as Arabidopsis and rice. However, it is not clear how broadly these genomic resources can be applied to the genetic improvement of more distantly related plants. Asparagus, garlic, and onion are the most economically important non-graminous crops produced in the US and are members of the monocot order Asparagales, a monophyletic group sister to the Poales (rice, maize, wheat, and other grasses). This close phylogenetic relationship may allow for the exploitation of the rice genomic resources for genetic improvement of the Asparagales. In this funded grant, we synthesized a normalized cDNA library of onion from equilmolar amounts of mRNA+ from callus, immature bulbs, and roots. Sequencing of at least 15,000 random cDNAs from this library allowed use to identify those showing high sequence homology to expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from rice. These onion cDNAs will be used to map a common set of markers in asparagus, garlic, and onion to estimate the synteny among these vegetables. The M locus of asparagus, the Ms locus of onion, and regions affecting male fertility in garlic will be targeted for high-density mapping to allow marker-facilitated selection of these economically important traits. If synteny existed among the Asparagales vegetables and rice, the enormous genomic resources of rice could be tapped for tagging and mapped-based cloning of important Asparagales genes.