spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chen, C.
Right arrow Articles by Ma, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Chen, C.
Right arrow Articles by Ma, H.
Development 129, 2401-2409 (2002)
© 2002 The Company of Biologists Limited

The Arabidopsis ATK1 gene is required for spindle morphogenesis in male meiosis

Changbin Chen1,2,*, Adam Marcus1, Wuxing Li1,2,3, Yi Hu1,2, Jean-Philippe Vielle Calzada4,5, Ueli Grossniklaus4,6, Richard J. Cyr1,3 and Hong Ma1,2,3,{dagger}

1 Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA
2 The Life Sciences Consortium, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA
3 The Intercollege Graduate Program in Plant Physiology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 USA
4 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724 USA
5 CINVESTAV-Irapuato, Plant Biotechnology Unit, CP 36500, Irapuato, GTO, Mexico
6 Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, CH-8008, Zürich, Switzerland
* Present address: University of Pennsylvania, Plant Science Institute, Biology Department, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

{dagger}Author for correspondence (e-mail: hxm16{at}psu.edu)

Accepted 25 February 2002

The spindle plays a central role in chromosome segregation during mitosis and meiosis. In particular, various kinesins are thought to play crucial roles in spindle structure and function in both mitosis and meiosis of fungi and animals. A group of putative kinesins has been previously identified in Arabidopsis, called ATK1-ATK4 (previously known as KATA-KATD), but their in vivo functions have not been tested with genetic studies. We report here the isolation and characterization of a mutant, atk1-1, which has a defective ATK1 gene. The atk1-1 mutant was identified in a collection of Ds transposon insertion lines by its reduced fertility. Reciprocal crosses between the atk1-1 mutant and wild type showed that only male fertility was reduced, not female fertility. Molecular analyses, including revertant studies, indicated that the Ds insertion in the ATK1 gene was responsible for the fertility defect. Light microscopy revealed that, in the atk1-1 mutant, male meiosis was defective, producing an abnormal number of microspores of variable sizes. Further cytological studies indicated that meiotic chromosome segregation and spindle organization were both abnormal in the mutant. Specifically, the atk1-1 mutant male meiotic cells had spindles that were broad, unfocused and multi-axial at the poles at metaphase I, unlike the typical fusiform bipolar spindle found in the wild-type metaphase I cells. Therefore, the ATK1 gene plays a crucial role in spindle morphogenesis in male Arabidopsis meiosis.

Key words: Arabidopsis thaliana, Kinesin, Meiosis, Spindle, Transposon




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Plant CellHome page
R. Zhong, D. H. Burk, W. H. Morrison III, and Z.-H. Ye
A Kinesin-Like Protein Is Essential for Oriented Deposition of Cellulose Microfibrils and Cell Wall Strength
PLANT CELL, December 1, 2002; 14(12): 3101 - 3117.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2002