Abstract
Insertions of Mutator transposons into maize genes can generate suppressible alleles. Mu suppression is when, in the absence of Mu activity, the phenotype of a mutant allele reverts to that of its progenitor. Here we present the characterization of five dominant Mu-suppressible alleles of the knox (knotted1-like homeobox) genes liguleless3 and rough sheath1, which exhibit neomorphic phenotypes in the leaves. RNA blot analysis suggests that Mu suppression affects only the neomorphic aspect of the allele, not the wild-type aspect. Additionally, Mu suppression appears to be exerting its effects at the level of transcription or transcript accumulation. We show that truncated transcripts are produced by three alleles, implying a mechanism for Mu suppression of 5′ untranslated region insertion alleles distinct from that which has been described previously. Additionally, it is found that Mu suppression can be caused by at least three different types of Mutator elements. Evidence presented here suggests that whether an allele is suppressible or not may depend upon the site of insertion. We cite previous work on the knox gene kn1, and discuss our results in the context of interactions between Mu-encoded products and the inherently negative regulation of neomorphic liguleless3 and rough sheath1 transcription.
Characterization of the spectrum of alternative splicing of alpha 1 (XIII) collagen transcripts in HT-1080 cells and calvarial tissue resulted in identification of two previously unidentified alternatively spliced sequences, one previously unidentified exon, and nine new mRNA variants.
