Insertional Mutagenesis: lessons from Arabidopsis, gaining experience in rice

Abstract

Insertional mutagenesis is a means of analyzing the function of genes through their disruption by foreign DNA followed by observation of the effect on phenotype. Insertion libraries are a key tool in plant functional genomics projects aimed at deciphering major developmental and physiological processes because they permit both the discovery of new genes through forward genetics screens and gene detection systems as well as the validation of genes of known sequence through reverse genetics strategies. Benefiting from experience accumulated over the last decade in the model dicotyledonous species Arabidopsis, large insertion line libraries in turn have been generated in rice (Oryza sativa L.), the model plant for cereals and grasses, in the last five years. The use of insertion mutagens has varied and encompasses T-DNA, delivered during co-culture with Agrobacterium, the genetically engineered maize transposable Ac/Ds system and the endogenous ty1-copia retroelement Tos17, mobilized during tissue culture. Here we review the current status of rice insertional mutagenesis by concentrating on specific features and advantages and drawbacks of each mutagen, and examine the establishment of this new resource from a rice functional genomics perspective.