IMP is a technology that is proprietary to DNA LandMarks. IMPs have many unique advantages:
Naturally multiplexed – Greatly lowers cost/data point
Reliable – PCR based, reproducible results
Portable – Markers are cross-applicable in all crops
Practical – Useful in a variety of marker-assisted breeding functions
Flexible – Select a service option that best fits your program
What are IMP markers?
Developed by and exclusive to DNA LandMarks
Inter-MITE Polymorphism (IMP) markers are based on Miniature Inverted-repeat Transposable Elements (MITEs)
MITEs are short interspersed DNA transposons with terminal inverted repeats (TIRs)
Small size (< 500 bp), conserved TIRs, high A+T content
Several distinct families: Tourist-like, Stowaway-like
In plants highly associated with genes (flanking regions, introns)
Present in plants, fungi, vertebrates, fishes, insects
Abundant in plants (several thousand copies per genome)
Because MITEs are so abundant throughout the genome, IMP markers are based on PCR amplification of the DNA in between two MITEs rather than amplifying the marker itself.
IMP Marker Distribution Across the Genome
IMP markers are also very evenly distributed throughout the genome, making them excellent for fingerprinting and marker-assisted backcrossing.
IMP Marker Cross-Applicability
Another key advantage to IMP markers is their cross-applicability. IMPs will work in most species. With a very quick and inexpensive pilot, DNA LandMarks can optimize an IMP primer set for a new species that will generate several hundred new markers.
Recent examples:
Lettuce
Potato
Cotton
Petunia
Tomato
Lobolly Pine
Onion
Converting IMP Bands into SNP or SSR Markers
IMP markers are excellent for looking at the entire genome (mapping, fingerprinting, marker-assisted breeding). However for carrying out high-throughput marker-assisted selection on thousands of samples, IMPs are not the best marker to use. It is possible though to convert IMP bands into loci-specific co-dominant markers (e.g. SSRs, SNPs).
