Intron length polymorphisms (ILPs) have been used as genetic markers in some studies. However, a systematic investigation and large-scale exploitation of ILP markers has not been reported. In this study, we performed a genome-wide search of ILPs between two subspecies (indica and japonica) in rice using the draft genomic sequences of cultivars 93-11 (indica) and Nipponbare (japonica) and 32,127 full-length cDNA sequences of Nipponbare obtained from public databases. We identified 13,308 putative ILPs. Based on these putative ILPs, we developed 5811 candidate ILP markers via electronic-PCR with primers designed in flanking exons. We further conducted experiment to verify the candidate ILP markers. Out of 215 candidate ILP markers tested on 93-11, Nipponbare and their hybrid, we successfully exploited 173 codominant ILP markers. Further analyses on 10 rice accessions showed that these ILP markers were widely applicable and most (71.1%) exhibited subspecies specificity. This feature suggests that ILPs would be useful for the studies of genome evolution and inter-subspecies heterosis and for cross-subspecies marker-assisted selection in rice. In addition, by testing 51 pairs of the ILP primers on five Gramineae plants and three dicot plants, we found another desirable characteristic of rice ILP markers that they have high transferability to other plants.

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Genetic improvement for drought stress tolerance in rice involves the quantitative nature of the trait, which reflects the additive effects of several genetic loci throughout the genome. Yield components and related traits under stressed and well-water conditions were assayed in mapping populations derived from crosses of AzucenaxIR64 and AzucenaxBala. To find the candidate rice genes underlying Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) in these populations, we conducted in silico analysis of a candidate region flanked by the genetic markers RM212 and RM319 on chromosome 1, proximal to the semi-dwarf (sd1) locus. A total of 175 annotated genes were identified from this region. These included 48 genes annotated by functional homology to known genes, 23 pseudogenes, 24 ab initio predicted genes supported by an alignment match to an EST (Expressed sequence tag) of unknown function, and 80 hypothetical genes predicted solely by ab initio means. Among these, 16 candidate genes could potentially be involved in drought stress response.

Background: Successful strategies for QTL gene identification benefit from combined experimental and bioinformatic approaches. Unique design aspects of the BXD recombinant inbred line mapping panel allow use of archived gene microarray expression data to filter likely from unlikely candidates. This prompted us to propose a simple five-filter protocol for candidate nomination. To filter more likely from less likely candidates, we required candidate genes near to the QTL to have mRNA abundance that correlated with the phenotype among the BXD lines as well as differed between the parental lines C57BL/6J and DBA/2J. We also required verification of mRNA abundance by an independent method, and finally we required either differences in protein levels or confirmed DNA sequence differences.