Molecular mapping within the mouse albino-deletion complex.

Induced germ-line deletion mutations in the mouse provide a malleable experimental system for in-depth molecular and functional analysis of large segments of the mammalian genome. To obtain an initial bank of molecular probes for the region of mouse chromosome 7 associated with the albino-deletion complex, random anonymous DNA clones, derived from a library constructed from flow-sorted chromosomes, were screened on DNAs from Mus musculus-Mus spretus F1 hybrids carrying large, multilocus, lethal albino deletions. Clones falling within a given deletion interval can easily be recognized because hybridization bands that represent restriction fragment length polymorphisms specific for the mutant (deleted) chromosome inherited from the M. musculus parent will be absent. Among 72 informative clones used as probes, one, which defines the locus D7OR1, mapped within two deletions that are 6-11 centimorgans in length. Submapping of this anonymous clone across a panel of 27 smaller deletions localized D7OR1 distal to a chromosomal subregion important for survival of the preimplantation embryo, proximal to globin [beta-chain (Hbb)], and near the shaker-1 (sh-1) locus. The results of these deletion-mapping experiments were also confirmed by standard three-point linkage analysis. This strategy for selection and rapid mapping of anonymous DNA probes to chromosomal segments corresponding to germ-line deletion mutations should contribute to the generation of more detailed physical and functional maps of genomic regions associated with mutant developmental phenotypes.