Elsevier

Genomics

Volume 87, Issue 5, May 2006, Pages 645-652
Genomics

Analysis of T-DNA insertion site distribution patterns in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals special features of genes without insertions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygeno.2005.12.010Get rights and content
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Abstract

Large collections of sequence-indexed T-DNA insertion mutants are invaluable resources for plant functional genomics. Flanking sequence tag (FST) data from these collections indicated that T-DNA insertions are not randomly distributed in the Arabidopsis thaliana genome and that there are still a fairly high number of annotated genes without T-DNA insertions. We have analyzed FST data from the FLAGdb, GABI-Kat, and SIGnAL mutant populations. The lack of detectable transcriptional activity and the absence of suitable restriction sites were among the reasons genes are not covered by insertions. Additionally, a refined analysis of FSTs to genes with annotated noncoding regions showed that transcription initiation and polyadenylation site regions of genes are favored targets for T-DNA integration. These findings have implications for the use of T-DNA in saturation mutagenesis and for our chances to find a useful knockout allele for every gene.

Keywords

T-DNA
Integration
Insertional mutagenesis
Arabidopsis thaliana
Restriction sites
Gene expression

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