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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » Corn Insects and Crop Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #90883
Title: SUPPRESSION OF RF2-MU ALLELES

Author
item CUI, X - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item HSIA, A - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Wise, Roger
item SCHNABLE, P - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Maize Genetics Conference Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/26/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Some Mu-induced alleles condition a mutant phenotype only in the presence of Mutator activity (Martienssen et al., 1990). The inability of these alleles to exhibit a mutant phenotype in Mu-inactive stocks is termed "Mu suppression". Two of six Mu-tagged rf2 alleles (rf2-m9390 and rf2-m8110) are Mu-suppressible. Both can be reactivated via crosses to Mu-active lines. The rf2-m9390 allele contains a Mu1 insertion in the 5' UTR of the rf2 gene, 104-bp upstream of the translation start codon. Suppressed plants homozygous for rf2-m9390 accumulate rf2 mRNA at a level indistinguishable from that of wild-type plants. However, these transcripts are not derived from the native transcription initiation site. The rf2-m8110 allele contains a Mu7 insertion in the 3' UTR of the rf2 gene, 36-bp downstream of the stop codon. In suppressed plants, rf2 mRNA accumulates at a slightly lower level than in wild-type plants. 3' RACE analysis has revealed several lpolyadenylation sites within the terminal inverted repeats of Mu7. Hence, this allele reveals an apparently novel mechanism for Mu-suppression.