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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Plant Gene Expression Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #229410
Title: A Collection of Ds Insertional Mutants Associated With Defects in Male Gametophyte Development and Function in Arabidopsis thaliana

Author
item BOAVIDA, LEONOR - ARS-UCB PLNT GENE EXP CTR
item SHUAI, BIN - ARS-UCB PLNT GENE EXP CTR
item YU, HEE-JU - PLANT BIO UC DAVIS CA
item PAGNUSSAT, GABRIELA - PLANT BIO UC DAVIS CA
item SUNDARESAN, VENKATESAN - PLANT BIO UC DAVIS CA
item McCormick, Sheila

Submitted to: Genetics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/13/2009
Publication Date: 2/24/2009
Citation: Boavida, L.C., Shuai, B., Yu, H., Pagnussat, G., Sundaresan, V., McCormick, S.M. 2009. A Collection of Ds Insertional Mutants Affecting Male Gametophyte Development and Function in Arabidopsis thaliana. Genetics. 181:1369-1385.

Interpretive Summary: We characterized 67 mutants that had defects in male transmission. We showed that the different mutants affected different steps in pollen development or function. Some of the genes corresponding to these mutants encode proteins with known functions, but many were previously unknown.

Technical Abstract: Functional analyses of the Arabidopsis genome require analysis of the gametophytic generation, since 10% of the genes are expressed in the male gametophyte and 9% in the female gametophyte. Here we describe the genetic and molecular characterization of 67 Ds insertion lines that show reduced transmission through the male gametophyte. About half of these mutations are male gametophytic-specific mutations, while the others also affect female transmission. Genomic sequences flanking both sides of the Ds element were recovered for 39 lines; for 16 the Ds elements were inserted in or close to coding regions, while 7 were located in intergenic/unannotated regions of the genome. For the remaining 16 lines, chromosomal rearrangements such as translocations or deletions, ranging between 30 and 500 kb, were associated with the transposition event. The mutants were classified into five groups according to the developmental processes affected; these ranged from defects in early stages of gametogenesis to later defects affecting pollen germination, pollen tube growth, polarity or guidance, or pollen tube–embryo sac interactions or fertilization. The isolated mutants carry Ds insertions in genes with diverse biological functions and potentially specify new functions for several unannotated or unknown proteins.