Yoshitake, K. | Search bioRxiv

bioRxiv2018

Designed hybrids facilitate efficient generation of high-resolution linkage maps

In sequencing eukaryotic genomes, linkage maps are indispensable for building scaffolds with which to assemble and/or to validate chromosomes. However, current approaches to construct linkage maps are limited by marker density and cost-effectiveness, especially for wild organisms. We have now devised a new strategy based on artificially generated hybrid organisms to acquire ultra high-density genomic markers at lower cost and build highly accurate linkage maps. Using this method, linkage maps and draft sequences for two species of pufferfish were obtained simultaneously. We anticipate that the method will accelerate genomic analysis of sexually reproducing organisms.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2017

Collaborative environmental DNA sampling from petal surfaces of flowering cherry Cerasus ×- yedoensis 'Somei-yoshino' across the Japanese archipelago

Recent studies have shown that environmental DNA is found almost everywhere. Flower petal surfaces are an attractive tissue to use for investigation of the dispersal of environmental DNA in nature as they are isolated from the external environment until the bud opens and only then can the petal surface accumulate environmental DNA. Here, we performed a crowdsourced experiment, the \"Ohanami Project\", to obtain environmental DNA samples from petal surfaces of Cerasus x yedoensis Somei-yoshino across the Japanese archipelago during spring 2015. C. x yedoensis is the most popular garden cherry species in Japan and clones of this cultivar bloom simultaneously every spring. Data collection spanned almost every prefecture and totaled 577 DNA samples from 149 collaborators. Preliminary amplicon-sequencing analysis showed the rapid attachment of environmental DNA onto the petal surfaces. Notably, we found DNA of other common plant species in samples obtained across a wide distribution; this DNA likely originated from pollen of the Japanese cedar. Our analysis supports our belief that petal surfaces after blossoming are a promising target to reveal the dynamics of environmental DNA in nature. The success of our experiment also shows that crowdsourced environmental DNA analyses have considerable value in ecological studies.

microbiology↗