Arabidopsis 2010: Essential Gene Functions in Arabidopsis Seed Development

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0114866Meinke PROJECT SUMMARYThis project will establish a foundation for identifying every Arabidopsis gene with an essential function during seed development. This information is central to the Arabidopsis 2010 Project and to identifying the minimal gene set required for growth and development of a model plant. The project will focus on genes that give a visible seed phenotype when disrupted by mutation. The network of genes chosen for analysis is therefore not defined by shared biochemical or molecular features but rather by the fact that they are essential. Arabidopsis contains an estimated 500 such EMB genes required for normal seed development and another 200 genes required for normal seed pigmentation. The approach outlined here is to coordinate the collection, analysis, and presentation of information on more than half of these genes based on cloning of mutant alleles. Information on essential genes and the corresponding mutants will be obtained from a variety of public and private sources and synthesized for efficient use by the community. The resulting insights into biological functions of these diverse genes will complement research in other labs on the biochemical activities of specific gene products. The result will be an integrated view of essential gene functions within a cellular, organismal, and evolutionary context. Project objectives are to: (1) use a combination of forward and reverse genetics to approach saturation for cloned EMB genes; (2) standardize phenotypic characterization of the corresponding mutants; (3) collect related information on seed pigment mutants; (4) make seeds for all mutant lines available through ABRC; (5) understand the functions of these genes in growth and development; (6) determine through expression studies and comparative sequence analysis why these genes are essential; (7) integrate this information into a simple but robust database with a format compatible with TAIR; (8) establish a model for public release of private sector resources; and (9) develop outreach and training programs that complement research efforts in Arabidopsis functional genomics. Project deliverables include public access to synthesized information and seed stocks for 500 mutants defective in 300 different EMB genes; similar information for another 100 pigment mutants defective in 75 genes; valuable expression data for genes active in young seeds (wild type and selected mutants); and a database that should serve as a model for analyzing and presenting information on large collections of mutants. The project web page (www.seedgenes.org) will be linked through TAIR (www.arabidopsis.org). Release of the first version of the database is scheduled for March 2002. Profiles of the first 100 essential genes examined in detail will be presented at that time. This project builds upon an existing collaboration between Oklahoma State University and Syngenta that has over the past 4 years resulted in identification of 350 tagged emb mutants and preliminary sequence data for about 200 of these mutants. This represents a significant corporate investment into a project that would be difficult and expensive to duplicate with federal funding. The current proposal includes substantial public release of private materials with minimal restrictions and provides a mechanism for collecting and analyzing community-wide information on essential genes. Such efforts are needed at the start of the 2010 Project to focus attention on genes with important biological functions.