Construction and application of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library of Prunus armeniaca L. for the identification of clones linked to the self-incompatibility locus

To facilitate gene discovery in the Rosaceae, a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library was constructed using high-molecular-weight (HMW) DNA from apricot leaves (Prunus armeniaca L.). The library contains 101,376 clones (264, 384-well plates) with an average insert size of 64 kb, equivalent to 22-fold genome coverage. In the first application of this library, high-density filters were screened for self-incompatibility genes using apricot DNA probes. Eight positive BAC clones were detected and fingerprinted to determine clone relationships and assemble contigs. These results demonstrate the suitability of this library for gene identification and physical mapping of the apricot genome.