The research proposed will use T-DNA tagged mutants in Arabidopsis to identify and isolate genes related to photosynthesis in this model plant, and seeks to determine the roles of these genes in photosynthetic development and other functions. The tagged genes of two albino mutants and their corresponding wild-type alleles will be examined in the effort to reach the goals stated. The effects of the tagged mutations on the molecular phenotype of mutant plants will be examined, and the properties of encoded proteins assessed in the effort to reach mechanistic explanations for association of phenotype and mutant. Many mutations in the photosynthetic process lead to pleiotropic molecular phenotypes and this makes difficult deriving a mechanistic explanation of the relationship between a phenotype and a mutant. Use of T-DNA tagged genes in mutants and wild types should permit a precise correlation between isolated genes and their functions in photosynthesis.
