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A meiotic time-course for Arabidopsis thaliana

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Abstract

A meiotic time-course for Arabidopsis pollen mother cells has been established based on BrdU pulse-labelling of nuclear DNA in the meiotic S-phase. Labelled flower buds were sampled at intervals and the progress of labelled cells through meiosis assessed by anti-BrdU antibody detection. The overall duration of meiosis from the end of meiotic S-phase to the tetrad stage, at 18.5°C, was 33 h, which is about three times longer than the mitotic cell cycle in seedlings. The onset of leptotene was defined by reference to the loading of the axis-associated protein Asy1, and this permitted the detection of a definite G2 stage, having a maximum duration of 9 h. It is likely, from two independent sources of evidence, that the meiotic S-phase has a duration similar to that of G2. The durations of leptotene and zygotene/pachytene are 6 h and 15.3 h, respectively, but the remaining meiotic division stages are completed very rapidly, within 3 h. The establishment of a meiotic time-course provides a framework for determining the relative timing and durations of key molecular events of meiosis in Arabidopsis in relation to cytologically defined landmarks. In addition, it will be important in a broader developmental context for determining the timing of epigenetic mechanisms that are known or suspected to occur during meiosis.

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Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the financial support provided by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biosciences, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    S. J. Armstrong, F. C. H. Franklin & G. H. Jones

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  1. S. J. Armstrong
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  2. F. C. H. Franklin
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  3. G. H. Jones
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Correspondence to S. J. Armstrong.

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Armstrong, S.J., Franklin, F.C.H. & Jones, G.H. A meiotic time-course for Arabidopsis thaliana . Sex Plant Reprod 16, 141–149 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-003-0186-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-003-0186-4

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