Enriching the bovine microsatellite Radiation Hybrid map with AFLP® markers

Genomic maps of ordered markers and expressed sequences are basic tools for the identification and positional cloning of QTLs and genes involved in economic traits in farm animals. The analysis of donor/hamster Radiation Hybrid (RH) panels represent a powerful method to map genes ESTs and markers. RH maps are generally characterised and anchored to linkage maps using SSR markers employing a quite large experimental effort. In addition, the number of available SSRs may in some case be insufficient to assemble complete RH maps, particularly in high-resolution panels. We have adapted the high-throughput AFLP® technology (Vos et al., 1995) to the typing of RH cell lines, and have used it to increase the number of anchor points in the bovine RH map.