Transposon tagging of a male sterility gene in Arabidopsis

Abstract

TRANSFORMATION of the well-studied maize transposable elements into other plant species¹ should enable transposon tagging methodology² to be used for the isolation of interesting genes in the heterologous host. Here we describe the isolation of a transposon-tagged male sterile mutant in Arabidopsis thaliana using the maize Enhancer–Inhibitor^3,4 transposable element system introduced into Arabidopsis. The mutant lacks pollen, preventing normal self-fertilization, a characteristic important for production of hybrid seed in many crop plants. We have identified an Enhancer-transposase-mediated Inhibitor element insertion responsible for the male sterile phenotype, and isolated the corresponding gene named MALE STERILITY 2. Critical evidence that the Inhibitor-element-containing gene is involved in the male sterile phenotype is provided by the DNA sequences of new excision-derived alleles from independent stable fertile and male sterile progeny of the original mutant.