Applications of in situ hybridization to plant-improvement

In situ hybridization is a powerful method for characteristic alien addition and substitution lines. RFLP analysis can identify the presence of a particular individual chromosome, but whether they are as a pair or as a single chromosome cannot be determined. In situ hybridization has become established as an essential method in cell and molecular biology. It is able to link DNA sequences with their organization and physical position. The rate of technology-development in the field of in situ hybridization has been rapid: radioactive probes are now rarely used, while labeling methods, fluorochromes, chromosomes and tissue-preparation methods, microscope and imaging technology have all useful in functional genomics and localization of transgenes on the chromosomes. (author)