Abstract
Arabidopsis acaulis1 (acl1) mutants show growth defects such as curled leaves and short inflorescence stems at 22°C. The severe acl1-1 plants have tiny curly leaves, greatly reduced rosettes in size, and short inflorescences, which are only slightly longer than the height of the rosettes. A cluster of two or three flowers was produced at the top of the inflorescence stem. The weak allele acl1-3 plants also have small leaves, small rosettes and short inflorescence stems. High temperature is effective to restore acl1 phenotype and makes acl1 plants almost indistinguishable from wild type at 28°C.
We have treated acl1 seeds with EMS to screen enhancers and suppressors. Successfully, we have obtained mutants that could enhance or suppress acl1 phenotypes at 22°C. We also found that there is an inversion on chromosome 4 of the original acl1-1 genome. Although it is not the cause of acl1 phenotype, it enhances acl1-1 phenotype.
