About the Cover
On the Cover: Pollen grains from a quartet mutant of Arabidopsis, heterozygous for a pollen-specific, transgenic copy of GFP (green fluorescent protein), are shown. The quartet mutant makes it possible to examine all four products of individual meioses and to distinguish the expected 2:2 patterns (such as those shown here) from aberrant 3:1 or 4:0 patterns resulting from gene conversion, chromosome loss, or other genomic alterations. The Breakthrough Technologies article by Copenhaver et al. (pp. 7-15) describes other applications of the quartet mutation, including the construction of genetic maps, defining centromeres, investigating crossover interference, analyzing lethal mutant combinations, and screening gametophytic gene functions.
[Table of Contents]
Copyright © 2007 by the American Society of Plant Biologists
