Plant Genomes: A Current Molecular Description

A major advance in plant genome analysis has been the development of molecular marker maps. These, in combination with repeated sequence analysis, have given considerable insight into the organization and evolution of many plant genomes. Physical mapping and sequencing of the genomes of the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana and rice are progressing rapidly. The physical maps facilitate the isolation of genes by map-based cloning and will enable the organization of whole chromosomes to be analyzed. Comparative mapping studies between related plant species, using common sets of molecular markers, have revealed extensive collinearity over short chromosomal segments or whole chromosomes. Thus, in the future, collinearity as well as homology may be used to clone genes from many plant species, maximally exploiting the A. thaliana or rice physical maps.