Identification of Arabidopsis rat mutants

Limited knowledge currently exists regarding the roles of plant genes and proteins in the Agrobacteriumtumefaciens -mediated transformation process. To understand the host contribution to transformation, we carried out root-based transformation assays to identify Arabidopsis mutantsthat are resistant to Agrobacteriumtransformation ( rat mutants). To date, we have identified 126 rat mutantsby screening libraries of T-DNA insertion mutantsand by using various “ reverse genetic” approaches. These mutantsdisrupt expression of genes of numerous categories, including chromatin structural and remodeling genes, and genes encoding proteins implicated in nuclear targeting, cell wall structure and metabolism, cytoskeleton structure and function, and signal transduction. Here, we present an update on the identification and characterization of these rat mutants.