During the last decade the small cruciferous plant Arabidopsis thaliana has become a model organism for flowering plants. Sequencing and analysis of the Arabidopsis genome is nearing completion. Beside an overview on methods and strategies for Arabidopsis genome analysis, a summary of the results from the first analysis is presented. This includes an overview on chromosomal organisation and top...

Genomic information of Arabidopsis thaliana can be obtained from various public databases. Given that naming conventions often vary between databases and that the same genes can be annotated differently, we developed a web-based tool, KATANA (Kazusa Arabidopsis thaliana Annotation Abstract; http://www.kazusa.or.jp/katana/), to guide users searching for Arabidopsis genomic information to the rel...

Recent reports have revealed new guard cell signaling elements that function in stomatal defense in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis). We discuss here the role of oxylipins, salicylic acid (SA), and abscisic acid (ABA) in stomatal immunity in response to the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae.

Arabidopsis thaliana, a small annual weed belonging to the mustard family, has become a widely used model in plant genetic research. It has a small genome, short life cycle, and is easy to mutagenize. Identification of genes based on phenotype alone, often a rather difficult part of molecular genetic research, is easiest in this plant. Laboratories working on the "model" plant Arabidopsis thali...

In the scenario of global warming and climate change, heat stress is a serious threat to crop production worldwide. Being sessile, plants cannot escape from heat. Plants have developed various adaptive mechanisms to survive heat stress. Several studies have focused on diversity of heat tolerance levels in divergent Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana) ecotypes, but comprehensive genome scale unde...

Morphological diversity is often caused by altered gene expression of key developmental regulators. However, the precise developmental trajectories through which morphologies evolved remain poorly understood. It is also unclear to what degree genetic changes contributing to morphological divergence were fixed by natural selection. Here we investigate these problems in the context of evolutionar...

The cross between Arabidopsis thaliana and the closely related species Arabidopsis arenosa results in postzygotic hybrid incompatibility, manifested as seed death. Ecotypes of A. thaliana were tested for their ability to produce live seed when crossed to A. arenosa. The identified genetic variation was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) encoded by the A. thaliana genome that affect the ...

Abstract The high-affinity K+ transporter HAK5 from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) is essential for acquisition and plant growth at low micromolar concentrations. Despite its functional relevance in nutrition, information about domains of scarce. Its activity enhanced by phosphorylation via the AtCIPK23/AtCBL1-9 complex. Based on recently published three-dimensionalstructure bacterial ortho...

A vast array of herbivorous arthropods live with symbiotic microorganisms. However, little is known about the nature and functional mechanism bacterial effects on plant defense responses towards herbivores. We explored role microbes present in extracts oral secretion (OS) isolated from larvae Spodoptera litura, a generalist herbivore, phytohormone signaling-dependent Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabi...