High-Resolution DNA Melting Analysis in Plant Research

Genetic and genomic studies provide valuable insight into the inheritance, structure, organization, and function of genes. The knowledge gained from the analysis of plant genes is beneficial to all aspects of plant research, including crop improvement. New methods and tools are continually being developed to facilitate rapid and accurate mapping, sequencing, and analyzing of genes. Here, I review the recent progress in the application of high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis of DNA, a method that allows detecting polymorphism in double-stranded DNA by comparing profiles of melting curves. Use of HRM has expanded considerably in the past few years as the method was successfully applied for high-throughput genotyping, mapping genes, testing food products and seeds, and other areas of plant research.

TrendsDNA is subject to mutations that change the information that is contained in the genome.The detection and study of spontaneous and induced mutations is essential for the understanding of changes in phenotypic variation and evolution of species.High-resolution DNA melting analysis (HRM) allows for the systematic screening of mutants by the way of analyzing differences in melting curves of amplicons.This approach does not require previous knowledge of the possible haplotypes, does not need fluorescent labels, and multiple alleles can be detected in a single amplicon.HRM has recently been applied to identify induced mutations as well as natural variants in numerous plant species.The method can be used for high-throughput genotyping, mapping genes, testing food products, and in other areas of plant research.