Open AccessRapid Image Analysis Screening Procedure for Identifying Chloroplast Number Mutants in Mesophyll Cells of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh.
Author(s) -
Kevin Pyke,
Rachel M. Leech
Publication year - 1991
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.96.4.1193
Subject(s) - chloroplast , mutant , arabidopsis thaliana , biology , arabidopsis , phenotype , botany , wild type , genetics , gene
To analyze the genetic control of the process of chloroplast division, a direct image analysis screening procedure has been developed in which mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. var Landsberg erecta are selected on the basis of abnormal chloroplast number. The selection procedure is based on image analysis thresholding after iodine staining, which facilitates the automatic counting of chloroplasts in isolated mesophyll cells. M2 seedlings are screened for significant deviation from the wild type relationship between mesophyll cell size and chloroplast number. Mutants with both abnormally high and abnormally low chloroplast numbers were identified. Of 3500 individual M2 seedlings screened, 18 mutant lines have been isolated and shown to be stably inherited in three subsequent generations. The most extreme phenotypes show an 80% reduction or a 50% increase in chloroplast number per mesophyll cell.