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Nature 391, 485-488 (29 January 1998) | doi:10.1038/35140; Received 8 August 1997; Accepted 31 October 1997

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Analysis of 1.9 Mb of contiguous sequence from chromosome 4 of Arabidopsis thaliana

The EU Arabidopsis Genome Project, M. Bevan1, I. Bancroft1, E. Bent1, K. Love1, H. Goodman2, C. Dean1, R. Bergkamp3, W. Dirkse3, M. Van Staveren3, W. Stiekema3, L. Drost1, P. Ridley1, S.-A. Hudson1, K. Patel1, G. Murphy1, P. Piffanelli1, H. Wedler4, E. Wedler4, R. Wambutt4, T. Weitzenegger5, T. M. Pohl5, N. Terryn6, J. Gielen6, R. Villarroel6, R. De Clerck6, M. Van Montagu6, A. Lecharny7, S. Auborg7, I. Gy7, M. Kreis7, N. Lao8, T. Kavanagh8, S. Hempel9, P. Kotter9, K.-D. Entian9, M. Rieger10, M. Schaeffer10, B. Funk10, S. Mueller-Auer10, M. Silvey11, R. James11, A. Montfort12, A. Pons12, P. Puigdomenech12, A. Douka13, E. Voukelatou13, D. Milioni13, P. Hatzopoulos13, E. Piravandi14, B. Obermaier14, H. Hilbert15, A. Düsterhöft15, T. Moores16, J. D. G. Jones16, T. Eneva17, K. Palme17, V. Benes18, S. Rechman18, W. Ansorge18, R. Cooke19, C. Berger19, M. Delseny19, M. Voet20, G. Volckaert20, H.-W. Mewes21, S. Klosterman21, C. Schueller21 & N. Chalwatzis21

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics, John Innes Centre , Colney, Norwich NR4 7UJ, UK
  2. Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02144, USA
  3. Department of Molecular Biology, CPRO-DLO , NL 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
  4. AGOWA GmbH, D 12489, Berlin, Germany
  5. GATC GmbH, D 78467 Konstanz, Germany
  6. Department Genetics, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Universiteit Gent, B 9000 Gent, Belgium
  7. Institut de Biotechnologie des Plantes, Université de Paris-Sud, ERS/CNRS, 569, F-91405 Orsay, France
  8. Department of Genetics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Eire
  9. SRD GmbH, D 61440 Oberursel, Germany
  10. Genotype GmbH, D 69259 Wilhelmsfeld , Germany
  11. School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
  12. CSIC, CID 08034 Barcelona , Spain
  13. Agricultural University of Athens, Athens , 118 55, Greece
  14. MediGene AG, D 82152 Planegg/Martinsried , Germany
  15. QIAGEN GmbH, D 4072 Hilden, Germany
  16. The Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UJ, UK
  17. Max-Delbruck-Laboratorium in der Max-Planck Gesellschaft , 50829 Köln, Germany
  18. European Molecular Biology Laboratory, D 69012 Heidelberg, Germany
  19. UMR CNRS 5545, Université Perpignan, 66860 Perpignan Cedex, France
  20. Laboratory of Gene Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B 3001 Leuven, Belgium
  21. Martinsrieder Institut für Protein Sequenzen, Max-Planck Institut für Biochemie, D 82152 Martinsried , Germany

Correspondence to: M. Bevan1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to M.B. (e-mail: Email: bevan@bbsrc.ac.uk).

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The plant Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) has become an important model species for the study of many aspects of plant biology1. The relatively small size of the nuclear genome and the availability of extensive physical maps of the five chromosomes2, 3, 4 provide a feasible basis for initiating sequencing of the five chromosomes. The YAC (yeast artificial chromosome)-based physical map of chromosome 4 was used to construct a sequence-ready map of cosmid and BAC (bacterial artificial chromosome) clones covering a 1.9-megabase (Mb) contiguous region5, and the sequence of this region is reported here. Analysis of the sequence revealed an average gene density of one gene every 4.8 kilobases (kb), and 54% of the predicted genes had significant similarity to known genes. Other interesting features were found, such as the sequence of a disease-resistance gene locus, the distribution of retroelements, the frequent occurrence of clustered gene families, and the sequence of several classes of genes not previously encountered in plants.

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics, John Innes Centre , Colney, Norwich NR4 7UJ, UK
  2. Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02144, USA
  3. Department of Molecular Biology, CPRO-DLO , NL 6700 AA, Wageningen, The Netherlands
  4. AGOWA GmbH, D 12489, Berlin, Germany
  5. GATC GmbH, D 78467 Konstanz, Germany
  6. Department Genetics, Vlaams Interuniversitair Instituut voor Biotechnologie, Universiteit Gent, B 9000 Gent, Belgium
  7. Institut de Biotechnologie des Plantes, Université de Paris-Sud, ERS/CNRS, 569, F-91405 Orsay, France
  8. Department of Genetics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Eire
  9. SRD GmbH, D 61440 Oberursel, Germany
  10. Genotype GmbH, D 69259 Wilhelmsfeld , Germany
  11. School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK
  12. CSIC, CID 08034 Barcelona , Spain
  13. Agricultural University of Athens, Athens , 118 55, Greece
  14. MediGene AG, D 82152 Planegg/Martinsried , Germany
  15. QIAGEN GmbH, D 4072 Hilden, Germany
  16. The Sainsbury Laboratory, John Innes Centre, Colney, Norwich NR4 7UJ, UK
  17. Max-Delbruck-Laboratorium in der Max-Planck Gesellschaft , 50829 Köln, Germany
  18. European Molecular Biology Laboratory, D 69012 Heidelberg, Germany
  19. UMR CNRS 5545, Université Perpignan, 66860 Perpignan Cedex, France
  20. Laboratory of Gene Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B 3001 Leuven, Belgium
  21. Martinsrieder Institut für Protein Sequenzen, Max-Planck Institut für Biochemie, D 82152 Martinsried , Germany

Correspondence to: M. Bevan1 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to M.B. (e-mail: Email: bevan@bbsrc.ac.uk).