Pulsed-field gel mapping of maize mitochondrial chromosomes

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) in combination with infrequently cutting restriction enzymes was used to investigate the structure of the mitochondrial (mt) genome of the maize variety Black Mexican Sweet (BMS). The mt genome of this variety was found to resemble that of the closely related B37N variety, with one recombination and five insertion/deletion events being sufficient to account for the differences observed between the two genomes. The majority of the BMS genome is organized as a number of subgenomic chromosomes with circular restriction maps. Several large repeated sequences are found in the BMS mt genome, but not all appear to be in recombinational equilibrium. No molecules large enough to contain the entire mt genome were discernible using these techniques. The mapping approach described here provides a means of quickly analyzing the large and complex mt genomes of plants.