hosoba toge toge, a syndrome caused by a large chromosomal deletion associated with a T-DNA insertion in Arabidopsis

We isolated a T-DNA-tagged mutant named hosoba toge toge (hot) in which a pleiotropic phenotype was observed in both the shoot and root throughout the life cycle. The phenotype and allelism indicated that the mutant has a defect in both the FASCIATA1 (FAS1) gene and the FT gene located on the bottom arm of chromosome 1. Analysis of the junctions between the T-DNA ends and the plant genome suggested the presence of a 75.8-kbp deletion at the insertion site. In addition to FAST and FT, 13 genes were predicted to exist in the region corresponding to that deleted in hot. They include homologs of genes for type II inositol-1,4,5-triphosphate 5-phosphatase (IP5Pase), the β-chain of N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase (NAGase), NADPH oxidoreductase of the ζ-crystallin family, polygalacturonase, and endo-1,4-β-glucanase. Although most aspects of the hot phenotype can be explained by loss of FAS1 and FT functions, some novel phenotypic features which may represent aspects of a mutant phenotype due to loss-of-function of other gene(s) were observed. One 'wild-type' ecotype and a previously reported T-DNA insertion line, neither of which has any obvious phenotypic abnormality, carry a possible loss-of-function mutation in the ζ-crystallin homolog and in the NAGase β chain homolog, respectively.