Chromosome jumping

Chromosome jumping is a tool of molecular biology that is used in the physical mapping of genomes. It is related to several other tools used for the same purpose, including chromosome walking.

Chromosome jumping is used to bypass regions difficult to clone, such as those containing repetitive DNA, that cannot be easily mapped by chromosome walking, and is useful in moving along a chromosome rapidly in search of a particular gene.

In chromosome jumping, the DNA of interest is identified, cut into fragments with restriction enzymes, and circularised (the beginning and end of each fragment are joined together to form a circular loop). From a known sequence, a primer is designed to sequence across the circularised junction. This primer is used to jump 100 kb-300 kb intervals: a sequence 100 kb away would have come near the known sequence on circularisation. Thus, sequences not reachable by chromosome walking can be sequenced. Chromosome walking can be used from the new jump position (in either direction) to look for gene-like sequences, or additional jumps can be used to progress further along the chromosome.

See also

• Shotgun sequencing
• Chromosome walking
• Chromosome landing
• Jumping library