Plant genomes, in particular grass genomes, evolve very rapidly. The closely related A genomes of diploid, tetraploid, and hexaploid wheat are derived from a common ancestor that lived <3 million years ago and represent a good model to study molecular mechanisms involved in such rapid evolution. We have sequenced and compared physical contigs at the Lr10 locus on chromosome 1AS from diploid (211 kb), tetraploid (187 kb), and hexaploid wheat (154 kb). A maximum of 33% of the sequences were conserved between two species. The sequences from diploid and tetraploid wheat shared all of the genes, including Lr10 and RGA2 and define a first haplotype (H1). The 130-kb intergenic region between Lr10 and RGA2 was conserved in size despite its activity as a hot spot for transposon insertion, which resulted in >70% of sequence divergence. The hexaploid wheat sequence lacks both Lr10 and RGA2 genes and defines a second haplotype, H2, which originated from ancient and extensive rearrangements. These rearrangements included insertions of retroelements and transposons deletions, as well as unequal recombination within elements. Gene disruption in haplotype H2 was caused by a deletion and subsequent large inversion. Gene conservation between H1 haplotypes, as well as conservation of rearrangements at the origin of the H2 haplotype at three different ploidy levels indicate that the two haplotypes are ancient and had a stable gene content during evolution, whereas the intergenic regions evolved rapidly. Polyploidization during wheat evolution had no detectable consequences on the structure and evolution of the two haplotypes.

To study genome evolution and diversity in barley (Hordeum vulgare), we have sequenced and compared more than 300 kb of sequence spanning the Rph7 leaf rust disease resistance gene in two barley cultivars. Colinearity was restricted to five genic and two intergenic regions representing <35% of the two sequences. In each interval separating the seven conserved regions, the number and type of repetitive elements were completely different between the two homologous sequences, and a single gene was absent in one cultivar. In both cultivars, the nonconserved regions consisted of ;53% repetitive sequences mainly represented by long-terminal repeat retrotransposons that have inserted <1 million years ago. PCR-based analysis of intergenic regions at the Rph7 locus and at three other independent loci in 41 H. vulgare lines indicated large haplotype variability in the cultivated barley gene pool. Together, our data indicate rapid and recent divergence at homologous loci in the genome of H. vulgare, possibly providing the molecular mechanism for the generation of high diversity in the barley gene pool. Finally, comparative analysis of the gene composition in barley, wheat (Triticum aestivum), rice (Oryza sativa), and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) suggested massive gene movements at the Rph7 locus in the Triticeae lineage.

To isolate genes of interest in plants, it is essential to construct bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries from specific genotypes. Construction and organisation of BAC libraries is laborious and costly, especially from organisms with large and complex genomes. In the present study, we developed the pooled BAC library strategy that allows rapid and low cost generation and screening of genomic libraries from any genotype of interest. The BAC library is constructed, directly organised into a few pools and screened for BAC clones of interest using PCR and hybridisation steps, without requiring organization into individual clones. As a proof of concept, a pooled BAC library of approximately 177,000 recombinant clones has been constructed from the barley cultivar Cebada Capa that carries the Rph7 leaf rust resistance gene. The library has an average insert size of 140 kb, a coverage of six barley genome equivalents and is organised in 138 pools of about 1,300 clones each. We rapidly established a single contig of six BAC clones spanning 230 kb at the Rph7 locus on chromosome 3HS. The described low-cost cloning strategy is fast and will greatly facilitate direct targeting of genes and large-scale intra- and inter-species comparative genome analysis.

The isolation of genes of agronomic interest such as disease resistance genes is a central issue in wheat research. A good knowledge of the organization and evolution of the genome can greatly help in defining the best strategies for efficient gene isolation. So far, very few wheat disease resistance loci have been studied at the molecular level and little is known about their evolution during polyploidization and domestication. In this study, we have analyzed the haplotype structure at loci orthologous to the leaf rust resistance locus Lr10in hexaploid wheat which spans 350 kb in diploid wheat. Two haplotypes (H1, H2) were defined by the presence (H1) or the absence (H2) of two different resistance gene analogs ( rga1, rga2) at this locus on chromosome 1AS. Both haplotypes were found in a collection of 113 wild and cultivated diploid and polyploid wheat lines and they do not reflect phylogenetic relationships. This indicates an ancient origin for this disease resistance locus and the independent conservation of the two haplotypes throughout the evolution of the wheat genome. Finally, the coding regions of the H1 haplotype RGAs are extremely conserved in all the species. This suggests a selective pressure for maintaining the structural and functional configuration of this haplotype in wheat. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer LINK server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10142-002-0051-9.