Separation of Arabidopsis Pollen Tetrads is Regulated by QUARTET1, a Pectin Metylesterase Gene.
Kirk E. Francis, Sandy Y. Lam, and Gregory P. Copenhaverhttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1630721/
For years, researchers have been studying a variety of model systems from C. elegans to Arabidopsis to even yeast spores. How do scientists go about these studies, and how is it that research in the sciences is able to continue after a discovery has been made? Researchers must continue searching for answers to questions that come up all over the place. How do plants reproduce? How do humans process sugar? Why can't some people process a certain food and others can? What is the cause of Down Syndrome? Questions like these allow researchers to continually make new hypotheses for experiments. Applying science to everyday life can prove challenging, but if one actually takes the time to think about it, the results can be more than excellent.
One area of popular research includes studying the model system plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. The above link to this paper takes you to a detailed paper on the experiment and procedures used to discover the function of a gene in the Arabidopsis plants that functions in meiosis and reproduction in the plants. However, this experiment is not just a regular study that went through and sequenced genes in the plant. The researchers applied a method used normally in yeast, which relies on the analysis of their haploid spores.
This article describes how pollen tetrads are separated in Arabidopsis, and how the quartet gene regulates this function. The authors go into detail about the studies they were able to do using tetrad analysis, including mapping the five different centromeres and distinguishing sporophytic and gametophytic mutants. Analysis of these tetrads with both the wild type and different mutant combinations resulted in discovering how these genes (and other genes as well) play a crucial role in the proper development and release of mature pollen grains. The authors also discuss the different phenotypes of each mutant and what process is affected in each mutant gene, such as a mutation in the qrt 1 gene results in proper depositing and degradation of a certain cell wall, but a failure to release the entire layer and thus a part of it remaining intact during meiosis.
This study is especially important because not only does it allow researchers to use a method used normally in yeast mutant analysis, but it allows for more research and development in such processes like meiosis, which are critical reproductive processes. Studying and discovering functions of such genes like the qrt gene may even allow for research in such areas like food crop production that will result in more successful yields. Being able to analyze the pollen grains from the Arabidopsis plants allowed researchers to not only analyze mutants affecting the meiotic processes or the plants, but also their reproductive abilities, as well as mapping out the locations of the different qrt genes they discussed. Figure 2 is especially interesting because it specifically shows in detail the location of the qrt1 gene and its surrounding regions, identifying the wild type as well as the mutant sequences. Such comparisons may allow for further research in this area, allowing researchers to see just how mutations can really affect a genome of an organism.
Studying tetrads in this particular experiment not only allowed researchers to present a new way of looking at the arabidopsis model system, but allowed for such studies to be conducted that allowed analysis of a mutation affecting a crucial biological process. Since meiosis is so crucial to successful production of viable progeny, using tetrads provided a perfect way to directly view meiotic products and the effects of different mutations in the qrt gene leading to problems in proper segregation and meiosis. This experiment is so important because it not only discusses a breakthrough method of mutant analysis in a different model system than yeast, but it allowed for the direct analysis of a mutation via its meiotic products. Such a study like this will likely affect science later by providing insight in new studies of mutations in processes like meiosis, pollen production and plant reproduction, as well as the discovery of pathways involving genes involved in such processes like these.
Separation of Arabidopsis Pollen Tetrads Is Regulated by QUARTET1, a Pectin Methylesterase Gene
PMCID: PMC1630721
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