The end of genetic maps

A genetic linkage map is never “done”. More and more markers can continue to be added, theoretically until every single nucleotide has been mapped – at some point, having complete genome sequence of an organism will be the ultimate genetic map.

Meanwhile, how many markers do you need? It depends on your goals – for marker-assisted breeding and/or QTL mapping (next section), mapping enough markers such that there is a marker every 5-10 cM distributed across the genome may be fine.