Refinement of the high-resolution physical and genetic map of Rhodobacter capsulatus and genome surveys using blots of the cosmid encyclopedia.

Cosmids from a library containing Rhodobacter capsulatus DNA fragments were previously ordered in two contigs: one corresponding to the chromosome and one to a 134 kb plasmid. This map contained 40 regions connected only by colony hybridization. To confirm the linkage and correct the map, the actual sizes of the overlaps were determined by blot-hybridization with Rhodobacter chromosomal DNA and by mapping of additional cosmids. Several revisions of the earlier map include single cosmid shifts and inversions. One additional gap in a cosmid contig was also found, raising the possibility that the chromosome is not a contiguous circle. About 2500 additional EcoRI,BamHI and HindIII restriction sites were added to the 560 EcoRV sites previously mapped onto the Rhodobacter chromosome, increasing the resolution of the physical map to the size of individual genes. Twenty-five new markers were located on the genetic map. The 48 markers now mapped represent nearly 300 genes and ORFs cloned from different species of Rhodobacter. The orientation of transcription of the four rrn operons was established using 16S rRNA- and 23S rRNA-specific probes and digestion with the rare-cutting enzyme, CeuI. Gel blots of 192 cosmids of the miniset of R.capsulatus digested with EcoRV were prepared. Such a hybridization template represents the whole genome cut into 560 DNA fragments varying in size from 0.4 to 25 kb. This template was used for high-resolution mapping of single genes, analysis of total genomic DNAs from related Rhodobacter strains and differentially expressed RNAs.