Fill in the Blanks

A team led by investigators at the University of Georgia presents in G3: Genes Genomes Genetics a 10,080-locus genetic map of the sunflower genome, which it produced based on multiple crosses. Integrating genotypic data for four sunflower mapping populations, the researchers produced a consensus linkage map of the sunflower genome, through which they found localized variation in recombination rates in several genomic regions and "observed several gaps up to 26 cM in length that completely lacked mappable markers in individual crosses," they report. However, because the regions varied by cross, the consensus map did not contain gaps, "clearly illustrating the value of simultaneously analyzing multiple mapping populations," the team adds.