cTBP : a successful Intron Length Polymorphism (ILP)-based genotyping method targeted to well defined experimental needs.

There seem to be a certain degree of reluctance in accepting ILP-based methods as part of the range of molecular markers that are classically used for plant genotyping. Indeed, since DNA polymorphism results from difference in length of fragments amplified from specific gene loci, not anonymous sequences, the number of markers that can be generated is sometime inadequate for classical phylogeny studies. Yet, ILP-based markers have many other useful advantages that should not go neglected. We support this statement by presenting a large variety of data we have been collecting for a long while regarding the use of cTBP, an ILP marker based on difference in length of the introns present within the members of the plant beta-tubulin gene family.