Open AccessPositive Selection for Male-Sterile Mutants of Arabidopsis Lacking Adenine Phosphoribosyl Transferase Activity
Author(s) -
Barbara A. Moffatt,
Chris Somerville
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
plant physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.554
H-Index - 312
eISSN - 1532-2548
pISSN - 0032-0889
DOI - 10.1104/pp.86.4.1150
Subject(s) - mutant , pollen , biology , genetics , arabidopsis , adenine phosphoribosyltransferase , locus (genetics) , wild type , phenotype , purine , transferase , biochemistry , gene , botany , enzyme
Three mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana deficient in adenine phosphoribosyl transferase activity were isolated by selecting for germination of seeds on a medium containing 0.1 millimolar 2,6-diaminopurine. In each of the mutants, diaminopurine resistance was due to a recessive nuclear mutation at a locus designated apt. The mutants grow more slowly than wild type, and are male sterile due to abortion of pollen development after the meiotic divisions of the pollen mother cells. The reliability and ease with which the mutants can be selected should afford novel opportunities to investigate purine metabolism, pollen development, and genetic problems which require the ability to select for loss-of-function mutations.