A novel DNA transposon was found in a chlorate resistant mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana. The element hybridizes to several distinct sequences in the Arabidopsis genome and thus is a member of a new family of transposons. Transposons are not only interesting in themselves but often prove to be important tools for cloning genes and serving as gene vectors for their native genome. We propose to characterize this transposon and develop it as a tool for studying the genome of this important model plant system. %%% Arabidopsis thaliana has become the focus of many molecular studies of plant genomes because of the small size and limited repetitive sequences of the genome. Although the maize transposable element Ac has been useful in obtaining mutants in Arabidopsis, much effort has not yet led to the cloning of a gene. Thus the possibility of an endogenous mobile element which can be characterized and possibly engineered to provide a much needed tool for the study of this model plant is exciting.
