Identification of a mobile endogenous transposon in Arabidopsis thaliana.

A mobile endogenous transposable element, Tag1, has been identified in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Tag1 was found in the nitrate transporter gene, CHL1, of a chlorate-resistant mutant present in a population of plants containing an active maize Ac transposon. Tag1 excises from the chl1 gene producing chlorate-sensitive revertants with Tag1 or Tag1-related elements at different loci. Tag1 and related elements are present in the Landsberg but not Columbia or Wassilewskija ecotypes of Arabidopsis. Thus, Tag1 provides a tool for the insertional mutagenesis of plant genes essential for biological processes of agronomic importance.