Applications of DArT

Genetic markers

DArT markers for a new species are discovered by screening a library of several thousand fragments from a genomic representation prepared from a pool of DNA samples that encompass the diversity of the species. The microarray platform makes the discovery process very efficient because all markers on a particular DArT array are scored simultaneously.

For each complexity reduction method, an independent collection of DArT markers can be assembled on a separate DArT array. The number of markers for a given species, therefore, is only dependent on:

• The level of genetic variation within the species (or gene pool) of interest, and
• The number of complexity reduction methods screened.

Complex DNA samples

DArT can be applied to complex DNA samples or "meta-genomes" comprising many organisms, in the same way as it is applied to DNA samples from individual organisms. A library is built from a "meta genomic" representation of a pool of samples. Thereafter, informative array features are identified by hybridising representations of individual samples to the array.

As DArT is independent of sequence information, it does not restrict the sequences it searches for diagnostic clones and can find sequences that other technologies are likely to miss. This is particularly important for samples containing DNA from non-culturable microbes, which represent the vast majority of bacteria in environmental samples.

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