Inferring hypotheses on functional relationships of genes: Analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana subtilase gene family.

ABSTRACT: The gene family of subtilisin-like serine proteases (subtilases) in Arabidopsis thaliana comprises 56 members, divided into six distinct subfamilies. Whereas the members of five subfamilies are similar to pyrolysins, two genes share stronger similarity to animal kexins. Mutant screens confirmed 144 T-DNA insertion lines with knockouts for 55 out of the 56 subtilases. Apart from SDD1, none of the confirmed homozygous mutants revealed any obvious visible phenotypic alteration during growth under standard conditions. Apart from this specific case, forward genetics gave us no hints about the function of the individual 54 non-characterized subtilase genes. Therefore, the main objective of our work was to overcome the shortcomings of the forward genetic approach and to infer alternative experime

SUBMITTER: Rautengarten C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1236819 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature