Comparative analysis of aBrassicaBAC clone containing several major aliphatic glucosinolate genes with its correspondingArabidopsissequence

We compared the sequence of a 101-kb-long bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone (B21H13) from Brassica oleracea with its homologous region in Arabidopsis thaliana. This clone contains a gene family involved in the synthesis of aliphatic glucosinolates. The A. thaliana homologs for this gene family are located on chromosome IV and correspond to three 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase (AOP) genes. We found that B21H13 harbors 23 genes, whereas the equivalent region in Arabidopsis contains 37 genes. All 23 common genes have the same order and orientation in both Brassica and Arabidopsis. The 16 missing genes in the broccoli BAC clone were arranged in two major blocks of 5 and 7 contiguous genes, two singletons, and a twosome. The 118 exons comprising these 23 genes have high conservation between the two species. The arrangement of the AOP gene family in A. thaliana is as follows: AOP3 (GS-OHP) – AOP2 (GS-ALK) – pseudogene – AOP1. In contrast, in B. oleracea (broccoli and collard), two of the genes are duplicated and the third, AOP3, is missing. The remaining genes are arranged as follows: Bo-AOP2.1 (BoGSL-ALKa) – pseudogene – AOP2.2 (BoGSL-ALKb) – AOP1.1 – AOP1.2. When the survey was expanded to other Brassica accessions, we found variation in copy number and sequence for the Brassica AOP2 homologs. This study confirms that extensive rearrangements have taken place during the evolution of the Brassicacea at both gene and chromosomal levels.Key words: Brassica oleracea, B. rapa, comparative genomics, glucosinolates.