Abstract: An Arabidopsis partial male-sterile mutant was isolated from a library of mutants mutagenized by enthyl methane sulfonate ( EMS) treatment. Genetic analysis indicated that the mutant was controlled by a single recessive nuclear gene named PMS15-16-2-3 . Cytological observations of the anther development of pms15-16-2-3 mutant and the wild-type plant showed that the mutant middle layer degenerated later, both the tapetal cell morphology and the tetrads were abnormal, which resulted in few fertile pollen grains formed in the anther. The mutant PMS15-16-2-3 gene was mapped to a region of 28-kb in BAC T24C20 on chromosome 3 using a map-based cloning strategy . No genes involved in microspore formation were reported in this region , so we believe that PMS15-16-2-3 gene could be a new gene controlling microspore development in Arabidopsis . This work provides the basis for further molecular cloning and functional analysis of this gene in Arabidopsis pollen development .

Key words: Arabidopsis thaliana