LOCALIZATION IN THE TOMATO GENOME OF DNA RESTRICTION FRAGMENTS CONTAINING SEQUENCES HOMOLOGOUS TO THE rRNA (45S), THE MAJOR CHLOROPHYLL a/b BINDING POLYPEPTIDE AND THE RIBULOSE BISPHOSPHATE CARBOXYLASE GENES

C. E. Vallejos ¹, S. D. Tanksley ¹, and R. Bernatzky ¹

¹ Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory and Department of Horticulture, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003

DNA restriction fragments containing sequences homologous to the ribosomal RNA (45s), the major chlorophyll a/b binding polypeptide (CAB) and the small subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RBCS) genes have been localized and mapped in the tomato nuclear genome by linkage analysis. Ribosomal RNA genes map to a single locus, R45s, which resides in a terminal position on the short arm of chromosome 2 and corresponds to the Nucleolar Organizer Region. The size of the 45s repeating unit is estimated to be approximately 9 kb in Lycopersicon esculentum and 11 kb in Lycopersicon pennellii. Five loci were found to contain CAB sequences. Two of the loci, Cab-1 (chromosome 2) and Cab-3 (chromosome 8), together accounted for more than 80% of the hybridization signal. These loci contain more than one CAB structural gene. The other three loci, Cab-2 (chromosome 8), Cab-4 (chromosome 7) and Cab-5 (chromosome 12), each account for <10% of the total signal and may contain only a single copy of the CAB structural sequence. Three loci were found to contain RBCS sequences. Rbcs-2 (chromosome 3) and Rbcs-3 (chromosome 2) were responsible for >80% of the signal, with the remainder being associated with Rbcs-1 (chromosome 2). Rbcs-2 and Rbcs-3 may contain more than one copy of the gene.