Journal of Heredity Advance Access published online on June 21, 2009
Journal of Heredity, doi:10.1093/jhered/esp037
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Chromosomal Mapping of Canine-Derived BAC Clones to the Red Fox and American Mink Genomes
From the James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 (Kukekova, Johnson, Temnykh, and Acland); the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia (Vorobieva, Beklemisheva, Yudkin, Trut, and Graphodatsky); Une unités mixtes de recherche 6061, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Institute of Genetics and Development, Faculty of Medicine, Rennes, France (Andre and Galibert); and the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (Aguirre)
Address correspondence to Anna V. Kukekova at the address above, or e-mail: avk5{at}cornell.edu.
High-quality sequencing of the dog (Canis lupus familiaris) genome has enabled enormous progress in genetic mapping of canine phenotypic variation. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes), another canid species, also exhibits a wide range of variation in coat color, morphology, and behavior. Although the fox genome has not yet been sequenced, canine genomic resources have been used to construct a meiotic linkage map of the red fox genome and begin genetic mapping in foxes. However, a more detailed gene-specific comparative map between the dog and fox genomes is required to establish gene order within homologous regions of dog and fox chromosomes and to refine breakpoints between homologous chromosomes of the 2 species. In the current study, we tested whether canine-derived gene–containing bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones can be routinely used to build a gene-specific map of the red fox genome. Forty canine BAC clones were mapped to the red fox genome by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Each clone was uniquely assigned to a single fox chromosome, and the locations of 38 clones agreed with cytogenetic predictions. These results clearly demonstrate the utility of FISH mapping for construction of a whole-genome gene-specific map of the red fox. The further possibility of using canine BAC clones to map genes in the American mink (Mustela vison) genome was also explored. Much lower success was obtained for this more distantly related farm-bred species, although a few BAC clones were mapped to the predicted chromosomal locations.
Key Words: Canis lupus familiaris comparative genomics FISH Mustela vison Vulpes vulpes
Corresponding Editor: Dr. Elaine Ostrander
Received November 22, 2008
Revised March 24, 2009
Accepted May 13, 2009