Analysis of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) from Agrostis Species Obtained Using Sequence Related Amplified Polymorphism

Bentgrass (Agrostis spp.), a genus of the Poaceae family, consists of more than 200 species and is mainly used in athletic fields and golf courses. Creeping bentgrass (A. stolonifera L.) is the most commonly used species in maintaining golf courses, followed by colonial bentgrass (A. capillaris L.) and velvet bentgrass (A. canina L.). The presence and nature of sequence related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) at the cDNA level were investigated. We isolated 80 unique cDNA fragment bands from these species using 56 SRAP primer combinations. Sequence analysis of cDNA clones and analysis of putative translation products revealed that some encoded amino acid sequences were similar to proteins involved in DNA synthesis, transcription, and signal transduction. The cytosolic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene (GenBank accession no. EB812822) was also identified from velvet bentgrass, and the corresponding protein sequence is further analyzed due to its critical role in many cellular processes. The partial peptide sequence obtained was 112 amino acids long, presenting a high degree of homology to parts of the N-terminal and C-terminal regions of cytosolic phosphorylating GAPDH (GapC). The existence of common expressed sequence tags (ESTs) revealed by a minimum evolutionary dendrogram among the Agrostis ESTs indicated the usefulness of SRAP for comparative genome analysis of transcribed genes in the grass species.