| Abstract Detail
Organelle Biology Ruppel, Nicholas J. [1], Hangarter, Roger [1]. T-DNA insertional mutants displaying an albino cotyledon phenotype. Proper development of plastids in embryo and seedling tissues is critical for plant development. During germination, plastids will develop to perform critical functions such as photosynthesis and gravity perception. Our lab has recently conducted a genetic screen of a T-DNA activation-tagged Arabidopsis population for mutants unable to develop normal chloroplasts in the cotyledons. These seedling plastid defective (spd) mutants are unable to survive to adulthood without the addition of supplemental carbon to the germination media. Tissues derived from the shoot apical meristem typically develop normal chloroplasts in spd mutants, localizing the albino phenotype to embryo-derived tissues. We isolated eight mutants, and Tail-based PCR-mapping was used to determine whether the location of the insert resulted in enhanced endogenous expression of genes adjacent to the T-DNA insert, or whether they represented knockout mutants. We characterized one of these mutants, which has been renamed spd6. In 5-day-old spd6 cotyledons, abnormal plastids were observed that contained numerous inclusion bodies, but that apparently failed to develop a proper thylakoid system. Normal chloroplasts were present in the bundle sheath cells, however, indicating that the ability to produce chloroplasts in all cotyledon tissues is not lost. Since the insert is located in non-coding DNA, we are analyzing genes nearby the T-DNA insert to determine which gene is responsible for the chloroplast development defect in spd6. Further analysis of the collection of spd mutants should provide a better understanding of plastid formation during embryo and seedling development.
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1 - Indiana University, Biology, 915 E. 3rd St., Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
Keywords:
seedling chloroplast
albino.
Presentation Type: Plant Biology Abstract
Session: P
Location: Exhibit Hall (Northeast, Southwest & Southeast)/Hilton
Date: Sunday, July 8th, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM
Number: P18001
Abstract ID:126 |
