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Abstract Detail


From canonical to new model systems: The future of plant development

Johnston, Mark [1].

More Mutations From Sperm Than Egg in Plants: The Roles of Selection and Development at the Gametophyte Stage.

In several groups of higher animals such as mammals and birds, males are known to transmit more mutations than females to the offspring. It is commonly believed that this male-biased mutation results from the higher number of cell divisions per generation of sperm compared to eggs (replication hypothesis). Plants, with somatic cell division preceding gamete formation and no separate germ line, are not expected to exhibit pronounced male-biased mutation. But they do. In this talk, I will describe our discovery of male-biased mutation transmission in plants and assess hypotheses for its cause. The information comes from two independent sources: rates of molecular evolution in gymnosperms and experimentally induced mutations in Arabidopsis and ferns. The talk will describe a hypothesis for how development and selection at the gametophyte stage combine to cause the male-biased transmission, and will include a verdict on the replication hypothesis from a new analysis of rates of molecular evolution.

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Related Links:
All about male-biased mutation transmission in plants from the Johnston lab


1 - Dalhousie University, Department Of Biology, 1355 Oxford Street, PO Box 15000, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada

Keywords:
none specified

Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY10
Location: Delaware A/Hyatt
Date: Wednesday, July 11th, 2012
Time: 2:45 PM
Number: SY10004
Abstract ID:454


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