Systematic Transposon Mutagenesis of the Maize Gene Space

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spg Hbr NY

Investigators

Abstract

The maize genome probably contains between 50,000 and 100,000 genes clustered in hypomethylated gene rich regions. We have developed a new method for purifying these regions, and we will explore its use in identifying gene function. This will be accomplished by sampling gene-rich portions of the genome that are chemically distinct from the gene poor regions, and then displaying them on microarrays (DNA chips). These microarrays will then be queried using representations of the DNA corresponding to mutated genes from a large population of maize plants that carries transposable elements (jumping genes). We have previously developed one such population (the Maize Targeted Mutagenesis population) with prior funding from the Plant Genome Research Program. By using computational methods, we will combine the data from the two different resources to create an index of maize gene function, represented by maize seed corresponding to each mutated gene. We anticipate making thousands of entries into this index, allowing maize geneticists to systematically determine the functions of indexed genes.