Construction of two BAC libraries from cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and identification of clones linked to yield component quantitative trait loci.

Two bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries were constructed from an inbred line derived from a cultivar of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Intact nuclei were isolated and embedded in agarose plugs, and high-molecular-weight DNA was subsequently partially digested with BamHI or EcoRI. Ligation of double size-selected DNA fragments with the pECBAC1 vector yielded two libraries containing 23,040 BamHI and 18,432 EcoRI clones. The average BamHI and EcoRI insert sizes were estimated to be 107.0 kb and 100.8 kb, respectively, and BAC clones lacking inserts were 1.3% and 14.5% in the BamHI and EcoRI libraries, respectively. The two libraries together represent approximately 10.8 haploid cucumber genomes. Hybridization with a C(0)t-1 DNA probe revealed that approximately 36% of BAC clones likely carried repetitive sequence-enriched DNA. The frequencies of BAC clones that carry chloroplast or mitochondrial DNA range from 0.20% to 0.47%. Four sequence-characterized amplified region (SCAR), four simple sequence repeat, and an randomly amplified polymorphic DNA marker linked with yield component quantitative trait loci were used either as probes to hybridize high-density colony filters prepared from both libraries or as primers to screen an ordered array of pooled BAC DNA prepared from the BamHI library. Positive BAC clones were identified in predicted numbers, as screening by polymerase chain reaction amplification effectively overcame the problems associated with an overabundance of positives from hybridization with two SCAR markers. The BAC clones identified herein that are linked to the de (determinate habit) and F (gynoecy) locus will be useful for positional cloning of these economically important genes. These BAC libraries will also facilitate physical mapping of the cucumber genome and comparative genome analyses with other plant species.