Isolation and characterization of 4 gametophytic male sterile mutants in Arabidopsis thaliana

摘要

In flowering plants, male fertility depends on the formation and development of normal male gametophytes or pollen grains. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that regulate theprocesses. Here, we report the identification of four novel independent Arabidopsis gametophytic malesterile mutants, apaml, apam2, apam3 and apam4 (Arabidopsis pollen abortion mutant). The four mutants that were generated by the insertions of gene- and enhancer-trap Ds transposon elements weredefective in pollen development. Genetic analysis results showed that all four mutations resulted in theloss of male gametophytic function, but did not affect female gametophytic function, and the Ds elements were linked to the mutations tightly in all four mutants. Localization of the Ds insertion sites bythermal asymmetric interlaced PCR (TAIL-PCR) showed that the Ds elements were inserted in four different loci distributed on three chromosomes, chromosomes II, III and V. In summary, the apam4 isallelic to AHA3, while the other three were located in places where there are no genes that have beenknown to be involved in pollen development, suggesting that they are novel mutations involved inpollen development.