Cloning and characterization of MS5 from Arabidopsis: a gene critical in male meiosis.

In this paper, we describe the cloning of the MS5 gene, a gene essential for male fertility in Arabidopsis. We previously defined the MS5 locus by characterizing an EMS-induced allele, ms5-1. We identified a new allele of MS5 (ms5-2) that was T-DNA-generated and used the T-DNA tag to clone the gene. Sequencing of mutant and wild-type alleles together with complementation of the ms5-1 mutant phenotype with a wild-type genomic clone confirmed the identity of the gene. Differences between the phenotypes of the two mutant alleles could be attributed to differences in mutant gene structure. The semi-dominant and dominant negative phenotypes of the ms5-2 mutant probably result from production of a truncated polypeptide. An unknown locus in Landsberg erecta can counteract the dominant negative phenotype of ms5-2. Mutations in MS5 cause the formation 'polyads'--tetrads with more than four pools of chromosomes after male meiosis. Similarities between the MS5 sequence and that of a number of proteins were found; two that may be significant were with a synaptonemal complex protein and with a regulatory subunit of a cyclin-dependent kinase. The MS5 gene is a member of a small gene family highly conserved amongst plant species.