CBN-V Video Archives - PS3-01
Large-Scale Mapping and Sequencing

McPherson J.D.

Genome Sequencing Center, Washington University, St. Louis MO

The sequencing of the Arabidopsis thalina and rice genomes marks an important milestone in plant genomics. Although these resources provide essential tools for research in important crop species, the size and complexity of many plant genomes present challenges for direct analysis. The past few years have witnessed a dramatic increase in the scale at which genomes can be mapped and sequenced. This was largely driven by the accelerated goals of the Human Genome Project. Both the mouse and Human haploid genomes are approximately 3 gigabases and 50% repetitive. In addition to general methods for mapping and sequencing large genomes, methods taking advantage of the unique methylation patterns found in plants can also be used to eliminate the majority of the repetitive DNA sequences. This effectively reduces the complexity of these genomes that were previously recalcitrant to direct analysis.