Construction of a marsupial bacterial artificial chromosome library from the model Australian marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

With the accelerating recognition of the power of comparative genomics, there is now enormous interest in sequencing the genomes of a broad range of species. Marsupials diverged at an important evolutionary time. The model Australian marsupial, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), has long been a resource for biological and genetic studies of marsupials, and the availability of a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library will be a valuable resource in these studies. A tammar wallaby BAC library was constructed using pRazorBAC vector. It contains 55296 clones with an average insert size of 108 kb, representing 2.2 times coverage of the wallaby genome (based on an estimated 2.7 x 10(9) bp haploid genome size). The library was arrayed in 384-well plates, and spotted in duplicate onto nylon membranes. Screening these membranes has yielded clones containing 34 single-copy genes distributed over the genome, while it failed for only one gene. Each probe isolated 1-12 BAC clones and, to date, no chimeric clones have been found. This BAC library will constitute an invaluable resource for creating physical maps, positional cloning of genes and other sequences in the tammar wallaby, as well as comparative mapping studies in mammals.