A REFERENCE CROSS DNA PANEL FOR ZEBRAFISH (DANIO-RERIO) ANCHORED WITHSIMPLE SEQUENCE LENGTH POLYMORPHISMS

The ultimate informativeness of the zebrafish mutations described in t his issue will rest in part on the ability to clone these genes. Howev er, the genetic infrastructure required for the positional cloning in zebrafish is still in its infancy, Here we report a reference cross pa nel of DNA, consisting of 520 F-2 progeny (1040 meioses) that has been anchored to a zebrafish genetic linkage map by 102 simple sequence le ngth polymorphisms, This reference cross DNA provides: (1) a panel of DNA from the cross that was used to construct the genetic linkage map, upon which polymorphic gene(s) and genetic markers can be mapped; (2) a fine order mapping tool, with a maximum resolution of 0.1 cM; and ( 3) a foundation for the development of a physical map (an ordered arra y of clones each containing a known portion of the genome), This refer ence cross DNA will serve as a resource enabling investigators to rela te genes or genetic markers directly to a single genetic linkage map a nd avoid the problem of integrating different maps with different gene tic markers, as must be currently done when using randomly amplified p olymorphic DNA markers, or as has occurred with human genetic linkage maps.