FISH landmarks for barley chromosomes (Hordeum vulgare L.)

Barley metaphase chromosomes (2n = 14) can be identified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and digital imaging microscopy using heterologous 18S rDNA and 5S rDNA probe sequences. When these sequences are used together, FISH landmark signals were seen so that all 7 chromosomes were uniquely identified and unambiguously oriented. The chromosomal location of the landmark signals was determined by FISH to a barley trisomic series using the 18S and 5S probes labeled with different fluorophores. The utility of these FISH landmarks for barley physical mapping was also demonstrated when an Amy-2 cDNA clone and a BAC clone were hybridized with the FISH landmark probes.