Construction of a BAC library from cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and identification of linkage group specific clones

A bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library consisting of 19,200 clones with an average insert size of 105 kb has been constructed from a cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) inbred line S94; derived from a cultivar in North China. The entire library was equivalent to approximately 5 haploid cucumber genomes. To facilitate chromosome engineering and anchor the cucumber genetic linkage map to its chromosomes, 15 sequence-characterized amplified regions (SCAR) and seven simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers from each linkage group of cucumber were used to screen an ordered array of pooled BAC DNA with polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fifteen markers gave at least two positive clones. As a result, 32 BAC clones representing 7 linkage groups of cucumber were identified, which further validated the genome coverage and utility of the library. This BAC library and linkage group specific clones provide essential resources for future research of the cucumber genome.