XVI International Botanical Congess

Biodiversity assessment focuses more and more on variation in known, functional genes. Phytochromes perceive light quality and quantity, and play a crucial role a plant's life. They consist of a chromophore attached to a protein dimer. We aim to develop simplemarkers for the phytochrome family of genes coding for the protein, markers that can be used across species boundaries. Goals are * to develop generic and family member specific probes to assess the number of phytochrome loci in a study species. * to develop PCR-based markers that can be used to detect exon/intron- or upstream sequence variation within and among species. This project is part of the programme Transporting molecular tools from Arabidopsis thaliana to related species (MOTORS) subsidised by the EU (DG XII biotechnology).