POLLEN OF A MALE-STERILE MUTANT OF ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA ISOLATED FROMA T-DNA INSERTION POOL IS NOT EFFECTIVELY RELEASED FROM THE ANTHER LOCULE

We have isolated a male-sterile mutant from a pool of T-DNA insertiona l lines of Arabidopsis thaliana generated by an in planta transformati on procedure [Chang et al. (1994) Plant J. 5: 551]. Pollen in this mut ant is not effectively released from anther locules after cleavage of the stomium. Most mutant pollen grains are round, in contrast to the t ricolpate wild-type pollen, and some pollen grains show an abnormal su rface structure. Manually released mutant pollen grains are not fertil e and show defects in pollen tube germination in vitro. Genetic analys is disclosed that this lesion is due to a single recessive nuclear mut ation located on chromosome 3 closely linked to the gl1 locus. The mut ation locus is tightly linked to the inserted T-DNA.