Future directions: impact of DNA sequencing

At the time of writing a number of plant species have been completely sequenced (see next slide), and the costs of doing this are decreasing as the technology becomes more efficient (see Shendure and Hanlee 2008 for a current review).

The most immediate impact of this on MAB is in the development of new markers. Large numbers of ESTs, SSRs, and SNP markers are publicly available online, creating great cost- and time-savings in marker development.

For more information see: Fulton TM (2007) Genomics and Comparative Genomics: A learning module. Generation Challenge Program. CD-ROM and available at http://www.generationcp.org/genomics/

For a review on current sequencing technologies, see: Michael L. Metzker ML (2005) Emerging technologies in DNA sequencing. Genome Research 15: 1767-1776.