Members of the Arabidopsis Actin Gene Family Are Widely Dispersed in the Genome

Corresponding author: R. B. Meagher, Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, meagher{at}bscr.uga.edu (E-mail).

Communicating editor: E. MEYEROWITZ

Plant genomes are subjected to a variety of DNA turnover mechanisms that are thought to result in rapid expansion and presumable contraction of gene copy number. The evolutionary history of the 10 actin genes in Arabidopsis thaliana is well characterized and can be traced to the origin of vascular plant genomes. Knowledge about the genomic position of each actin gene may be the key to tracing landmark genomic duplication events that define plant families or genera and facilitate further mutant isolation. All 10 actin genes were mapped by following the segregation of cleaved amplified polymorphisms between two ecotypes and identifying actin gene locations among yeast artificial chromosomes. The Arabidopsis actin genes are widely dispersed on four different chromosomes (1, 2, 3, and 5). Even the members of three closely related and recently duplicated pairs of actin genes are unlinked. Several other cytoskeletal genes (profilins, tubulins) that might have evolved in concert with actins were also mapped, but showed few patterns consistent with that evoulutionary history. Thus, the events that gave rise to the actin gene family have been obscured either by the duplication of very small genic fragments or by extensive rearrangement of the genome.

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