EU-OSTID: a collection of transposon insertional mutants for functional genomics in rice

Abstract

A collection of 1373 unique flanking sequence tags (FSTs), generated from Ac/Ds and Ac transposon lines for reverse genetics studies, were produced in japonica and indica rice, respectively. The Ds and Ac FSTs together with the original T-DNAs were assigned a position in the rice genome sequence represented as assembled pseudomolecules, and found to be distributed evenly over the entire rice genome with a distinct bias for predicted gene-rich regions. The bias of the Ds and Ac transposon inserts for genes was exemplified by the presence of 59% of the inserts in genes annotated on the rice chromosomes and 41% present in genes transcribed as disclosed by their homology to cDNA clones. In a screen for inserts in a set of 75 well annotated transcription factors, including homeobox-containing genes, we found six Ac/Ds inserts. This high frequency of Ds and Ac inserts in genes suggests that saturated knockout mutagenesis in rice using this strategy will be efficient and possible with a lower number of inserts than expected. These FSTs and the corresponding plant lines are publicly available through OrygenesDB database and from the EU consortium members.