Single base changes are valuable tools in functional genomics because they can reveal changes in gene product activity, interaction and specificity. Targeting Induced Limited Lesions IN Genomes (TILLING) is a technology that can screen large populations of mutagenized organisms for those individuals that have single base changes in any gene of interest. The Maize TILLING Project (MTP) provides a service allowing maize researchers to identify and obtain seed for mutant varieties with defects in any gene. This award is designed to allow the MTP to become financially self-supporting. In addition, MTP is creating and evaluating new mutagenized lines of the inbreds B73 and W22 to provide the community with a general resource of optimally mutagenized seed. These mutant lines will be phenotyped in detail through an outreach program emphasizing underserved communities and secondary school students and teachers.
Access to project outcomes: All phenotypic and mutation data will be made publicly available (http://genome.purdue.edu/maizetilling). Six months after the TILLING client has received his/her order, sequence data will be posted at the main TILLING server at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (http://fhcrc.org:9355/search.html) and MaizeGDB (www.plantgdb.org/ZmGDB/). Stocks will be made available through the Maize Genetics Cooperation Stock Center (http://w3.ag.uiuc.edu/maize-coop/).
