Premium
Distributed phenomics with the un PAK project reveals the effects of mutations
Author(s) -
Rutter Matthew T.,
Murren Courtney J.,
Callahan Hilary S.,
Bisner April M.,
LeebensMack Jim,
Wolyniak Michael J.,
Strand Allan E.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.14427
Subject(s) - phenomics , phenotype , context (archaeology) , biology , genetics , mutant , phenotypic trait , mutation , arabidopsis thaliana , gene , computational biology , genomics , evolutionary biology , genome , paleontology
Summary Determining how genes are associated with traits in plants and other organisms is a major challenge in modern biology. The un PAK project – undergraduates phenotyping Arabidopsis knockouts – has generated phenotype data for thousands of non‐lethal insertion mutation lines within a single Arabidopsis thaliana genomic background. The focal phenotypes examined by un PAK are complex macroscopic fitness‐related traits, which have ecological, evolutionary and agricultural importance. These phenotypes are placed in the context of the wild‐type and also natural accessions (phytometers), and standardized for environmental differences between assays. Data from the un PAK project are used to describe broad patterns in the phenotypic consequences of insertion mutation, and to identify individual mutant lines with distinct phenotypes as candidates for further study. Inclusion of undergraduate researchers is at the core of un PAK activities, and an important broader impact of the project is providing students an opportunity to obtain research experience.