JGL@CORNELLA.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (Rob Last) (05/10/91)
People who are interested in ways to clone genes for which mutations are available should have a look at 'Direct Molecular Identification of the Mouse Pink-Eyed Unstable Mutation by Genome Scanning' by Brilliant etal. in Science 252:566. They were interested in cloning a gene for which a very unstable allele was available (it turned out to be a tandem repeat). They used a middle-repetitive probe to 'scan' the genome for regions that were altered in the unstable mutant background compared with an isogenic wild-type strain. It worked. It should work for homozygous viable deficiencies, or possibly even for recessive lethals. I am interested in hearing any reactions to the technique- please reply to the Bboard. Rob Last Boyce Thompson Institute
cdt2@PO.CWRU.EDU (Christopher D. Town) (05/15/91)
I was very interested to read Rob Last's recent note on genome scanning. We have in fact been contemplating such an approach for some time to try and get at the molecular basis of our radiation- induced tumors which do not regenerate plants and defy conventional genetic analysis. However, we have so far been unable to identify suitably informative probe(s). i.e. ones present in high copy number (1000+) and interspersed throughout the genome, as suggested by the Brilliant article. We have one tumor line which repeatedly throws off fast-growing variants which are shooty and have very high cytokinin levels. Comparison of these variants with each other and with the parent line (as well as with normal plant and with other tumors) could be very informative. I would be very pleased to receive suggestions os to possible probes whwich might be suitable for this. Many thanks, Chris Town.