Analysis of a partial male-sterile mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana isolated from a low-energy argon ion beam mutagenized pool

A screen for Arabidopsis fertility mutants, mutagenized by low-energy argon ion beam, yielded two partial male- sterile mutants tc243-1 and tc243- 2 which have similar phenotypes. tc243- 2 was investigated in detail. The segregation ratio of the mutant phenotypes in the M2 pools suggested that mutation behaved as single Mendelian recessive mutations. tc243 showed a series of mutant phenotypes, among which partial male- sterile was its striking mutant characteristic. Phenotype analysis indicates that there are four factors leading to male sterility. a. Floral organs normally develop inside the closed bud, but the anther. laments do not elongate sufficiently to position the locules above the stigma at anthesis. b. The anther locules do not dehisce at the time of flower opening ( although limited dehiscence occurs later). c. Pollens of mutant plants develop into several types of pollens at the trinucleated stage, as determined by staining with DAPI ( 4', 6- diamidino-2-phenylindole), which shows a variable size, shape and number of nucleus. d. The viability of pollens is lower than that of the wild type on the germination test in vivo and vitro.