TILLING (and EcoTILLING)


TILLING (and EcoTILLING)search for term

targeting-induced local lesions in genomes (TILLING) is a reverse genetic method that searches the genomes of mutagenized organisms for mutations in a chosen gene with PCR-based screening of the genes of interest. By comparing the phenotypes of isogenic genotypes differing in single sequence motifs, TILLING provides direct proof of function of both induced and natural polymorphisms without the use of transgenic modifications. A variation of this technique (EcoTILLING) can be used to determine the extent of natural variation in selected genes in crops. EcoTILLING is a cost-effective approach for haplotyping and SNP discovery. (Varshney 2009)