Extensive phenotypic variation among allelic T-DNA inserts in Arabidopsis thaliana.

T-DNA insertion mutants are a tool used widely in Arabidopsis thaliana to disrupt gene function. We phenotyped multiple homozygous T-DNA A. thaliana mutants at each of two loci (AT1G11060 and AT4G00210). We measured life history traits, including germination, size at reproduction and fruit productio...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Megan E Valentine, Michael J Wolyniak, Matthew T Rutter
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3441624?pdf=render
Description
Summary:T-DNA insertion mutants are a tool used widely in Arabidopsis thaliana to disrupt gene function. We phenotyped multiple homozygous T-DNA A. thaliana mutants at each of two loci (AT1G11060 and AT4G00210). We measured life history traits, including germination, size at reproduction and fruit production. Allelic T-DNA lines differed for most traits at AT1G11060 but not at AT4G00210. However, insertions in exons differed from other insertion positions in AT4G00210 but not in AT1G11060. We found evidence for additional insertions in approximately half of the lines, but found few phenotypic consequences. In general, our results suggest that a cautious interpretation of T-DNA phenotypes is warranted.
ISSN:1932-6203