减数分裂是植物有性生殖过程中性母细胞成熟时进行的特殊细胞分裂方式，其同源染色体配对、联会等经典事件已被证明是由许多基因组成的遗传网络所调控，但调控雄性减数分裂过程的某些机制仍不太清楚。本项目以拟南芥突变体mt169为材料，发现突变体严重雄性不育，结实率降低。进一步检查发现雄配子体发育过程中的四分体时期异常；经图位克隆获得的相关基因MT169位于第三条染色体。互补实验结果表明该基因是导致突变体表型的原因；该编码一未知功能的蛋白质，氨基酸序列分析发现其有分别与DNA结合和与蛋白质互作的两个结构域。因此本项目拟利用分子生物学、细胞生物学、生物化学、遗传学等方法进一步鉴定MT169基因在植物雄性减数分裂过程中的作用和机制。

Meiosis is a special cell division in sexual reproduction in animals and plants. In the flowering plants, meiosis processes, such as pairing, and synapsis, have been studied thoroughly in molecular and genetic level, however, the underlying mechanism whereby how meiosis is regulated is largely elusive. In this proposal, we will study the genetic and molecular modulation of male meiosis by using Arabidopsis mutant mt169. The mutant displayed severe male sterility and the rate of seed set decreased dramatically. Our preliminary data also indicated that mt169 mutation seriously affected the chromosome meiosis and led to abnormal tetrads. Through Genomic Mapping, the related gene MT169 was found to locate on the third chromosome. The complementary results showed that mt169, which encodes an unknown-function protein, resulted in the mutant phenotype. The amino acid sequence analysis revealed that MT169 contained one DNA-binding domain and another domain probably interacting with other protein. Therefore, this proposal aims to further characterize MT169 and its functions in the male meiosis in Arabidopsis by employing molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry and genetic approaches.