Cloning Plant Genes Known Only by Phenotype

Cloning plant genes known only by phenctype seemed like a dream only a decade ago. Now it has become a practical, though demanding, experimental challenge. Recently the University of Minnesota hosted asymposium that brought together severa1 experts in cloning genes known only by their phenotypes. The participants presented myriad ways for cloning plant genes, including the use of T-DNA insertion, transposon tagging, positional cloning, restriction enzyme-mediated integration (REMI), site-specific recombination for in vitro chromosome cleavage, targeted restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) subtraction, and yeast artificial chromosomes (YACs) for chromosome landing and walking. Although the meeting focused on plants, biological systems ranging all the way from maize, tomato, and Arabidopsis to mice, Volvox, and Dictyosrelium were presented.