Isolation of a Mutant ofFer1Gene, Acting Synergistically with theARF8Gene to Control Development of the Anther and Filament inArabidopsis.

Auxin response factors (ARFs) play a central role in plants as transcriptional factors in response to auxin. TheArabidopsis ARF8gene is a light-inducible gene and ARF8 protein might control auxin homeostasis in a negative feed-back fashion through regulation ofGH3gene expression. In a double mutant designated infertile line includingarf8-1(a T-DNA insertion mutantof ARF8), weisolated fertility1-1 (fer1-1), a mutant ofFer1, which acts synergistically withARF8to control the development of the anther and filament inArabidopsis.Genetics analysis has demonstrated thatfer 1-1is a T-DNA insertion line, indicating thatFer1might be cloned by inverse polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or the TAIL-PCR approach. Phenotypic identification and molecular analysis offer 1-1and the infertile line will be helpful to characterize the function ofFer1, to further study the function ofARF8, and to reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the interaction ofFer1andARF8in controlling development of the anther and filament.(Managing editor: Li-Hui ZHAO) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]