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RAPD polymorphisms detected among the flax genotrophs
1Department of Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7080, USA.
Plant Molecular Biology
|March 29, 2000
Summary
Environmentally induced heritable changes in flax are linked to genomic DNA alterations. These changes, particularly in nuclear DNA content, reveal significant genomic variation across different flax varieties (genotrophs).
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Molecular Biology
- Plant Science
Background:
- Environmentally induced heritable changes occur in flax varieties.
- These changes correlate with alterations in genomic DNA.
- Extreme types, termed genotrophs, exhibit significant differences in nuclear DNA content.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate genomic variation among flax genotrophs.
- To characterize the distribution and nature of DNA polymorphisms.
- To understand the relationship between environmental induction and genomic changes.
Main Methods:
- Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was employed.
- Random arbitrary oligonucleotide primers were used.
- 320 primers were screened, yielding 253 polymorphic bands.
Main Results:
- Polymorphic bands were detected across all genomic fractions: highly repetitive, middle-repetitive, and low-copy-number sequences.
- These polymorphisms were distributed throughout the genome.
- A subset of genotrophs, induced by temperature, showed clustered polymorphisms, indicating shared variations.
Conclusions:
- Genomic DNA variation accompanies environmentally induced heritable changes in flax.
- A dispersed fraction of the genome is susceptible to variation during these processes.
- The findings support the hypothesis that environmental factors can induce heritable genomic alterations.