Radiation Hybrid Map of Barley Chromosome 3H

High-resolution mapping of the pericentromeric region on wheat chromosome arm 5AS harbouring the Fusarium head blight resistance QTL Qfhs.ifa-5A

The Qfhs.ifa-5A allele, contributing to enhanced Fusarium head blight resistance in wheat, resides in a low-recombinogenic region of chromosome 5A close to the centromere. A near-isogenic RIL population segregating for the Qfhs.ifa-5A resistance allele was developed and among 3650 lines as few as four recombined within the pericentromeric C-5AS1-0.40 bin, yielding only a single recombination point. Genetic mapping of the pericentromeric region using a recombination-dependent approach was thus not successful. To facilitate fine-mapping the physically large Qfhs.ifa-5A interval, two gamma-irradiated deletion panels were generated: (i) seeds of line NIL3 carrying the Qfhs.ifa-5A resistance allele in an otherwise susceptible background were irradiated and plants thereof were selfed to obtain deletions in homozygous state and (ii) a radiation hybrid panel was produced using irradiated pollen of the wheat line Chinese Spring (CS) for pollinating the CS-nullisomic5Atetrasomic5B. In total, 5157 radiation selfing and 276 radiation hybrid plants were screened for deletions on 5AS and plants containing deletions were analysed using 102 5AS-specific markers. Combining genotypic information of both panels yielded an 817-fold map improvement (cR/cM) for the centromeric bin and was 389-fold increased across the Qfhs.ifa-5A interval compared to the genetic map, with an average map resolution of 0.77 Mb/cR. We successfully proved that the RH mapping technique can effectively resolve marker order in low-recombining regions, including pericentromeric intervals, and simultaneously allow developing an in vivo panel of sister lines differing for induced deletions across the Qfhs.ifa-5A interval that can be used for phenotyping.

A High Resolution Radiation Hybrid Map of Wheat Chromosome 4A

Bread wheat has a large and complex allohexaploid genome with low recombination level at chromosome centromeric and peri-centromeric regions. This significantly hampers ordering of markers, contigs of physical maps and sequence scaffolds and impedes obtaining of high-quality reference genome sequence. Here we report on the construction of high-density and high-resolution radiation hybrid (RH) map of chromosome 4A supported by high-density chromosome deletion map. A total of 119 endosperm-based RH lines of two RH panels and 15 chromosome deletion bin lines were genotyped with 90K iSelect single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. A total of 2316 and 2695 markers were successfully mapped to the 4A RH and deletion maps, respectively. The chromosome deletion map was ordered in 19 bins and allowed precise identification of centromeric region and verification of the RH panel reliability. The 4A-specific RH map comprises 1080 mapping bins and spans 6550.9 cR with a resolution of 0.13 Mb/cR. Significantly higher mapping resolution in the centromeric region was observed as compared to recombination maps. Relatively even distribution of deletion frequency along the chromosome in the RH panel was observed and putative functional centromere was delimited within a region characterized by two SNP markers.

Dissecting Plant Chromosomes by the Use of Ionizing Radiation

Radiation treatment of genomes is used to generate chromosome breaks for numerous applications. This protocol describes the preparation of seeds and the determination of the optimal level of irradiation dosage for the creation of a radiation hybrid (RH) population. These RH lines can be used to generate high-resolution physical maps for the assembly of sequenced genomes as well as the fine mapping of genes. This procedure can also be used for mutation breeding and forward/reverse genetics.