I've spent the past few days trying to find genomes that are similar to a dwarf mutant of Oleracea (common cabbage.) We're basically trying to get a good idea of what the sequence for our mutant is, so then we can design primers in order to amplify the mutant gene, and then hopefully sequence said gene.
The problem is that the Oleracea genome hasn't been entirely sequenced. We're relying on fragments of DNA that we think are pretty similar to Oleracea. Again, once we have an idea of what the sequence of the mutated region is, we can design primers and perform Polymerase Chain Reactions to replicate the DNA, then run some gels and hopefully sequence the mutant gene.
Right now, I'm going to enrich my weekend with some more BLAST research. I'm looking for DNA fragments that look promising. I found seven or eight fragments so far that Frans thinks will be pretty similar to Oleracea. I'm going to try to go for a dozen or more.
In other news, my Oleracea plants are growing well. The wild type (un-mutated) are around an inch and a half tall. The dwarf mutants are significantly shorter, which is what we want to see. This upcoming week, I'll be collecting tissue samples and preparing the DNA.
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