Microbial genome program report: Optical approaches for physical mapping and sequence assembly of the Deinococcus radiodurans chromosome

摘要

Maps of genomic or cloned DNA are frequently constructed by analyzing the cleavage patterns produced by restriction enzymes. Restriction enzymes are remarkable reagents that faithfully cleave only at specific sequences of between 4 and 8 nucleotides, which vary according to the specific enzymes. Restriction enzymes are reliable, numerous, and easily obtainable and presently, there are approximately 250 different sequences represented among thousands of enzymes. Restriction maps characterize gene structure and even entire genomes. Furthermore, such maps provide a useful scaffold for the alignment and verification of sequence data. Restriction maps generated by computer and predicted from the sequence are aligned with the actual restriction map. Restriction enzyme action has traditionally been assayed by gel electrophoresis. This technique separates cleaved molecules on the basis of their nobilities under the influence of an applied electrical field, within a gel separation matrix (small fragments have a greater mobility than large ones). Although gel electrophoresis distinguishes different sized DNA fragments (known as a fingerprint), the original order of these fragments remains unknown. The subsequent task of determining the order of such fragments is a labor intensive task, especially when making restriction maps of whole genomes, and therefore despite its obvious utility to genome analysis, it is not widely used.