Figure 1

35S:NTAP:AtCTF7∆B plants exhibit reduced fertility. (A) Open siliques from wild type (Ai) and 35S:NTAP:AtCTF7∆B (Aii,Aiii) plants. i, Wild type silique with full seed set. ii, Silique from a 35S:NTAP:AtCTF7∆B plant (Line 19) exhibiting a weak phenotype. iii, Silique from a 35S:NTAP:AtCTF7∆B plant (Line 11) exhibiting a strong phenotype. Arrows indicate shriveled, unfertilized ovules. White stars show white, plump seeds, which aborted after fertilization. Scale bar = 0.5 cm. (B) Alexander staining of mature anthers from wild type (i) and 35S:NTAP:AtCTF7∆B (ii, iii) plants. i, Wild type anther. ii, Anther from Line 19. The anther is smaller and contains less pollen; all the pollen is viable. iii, Anther from Line 11. The anther is smaller and contains low numbers of viable pollen. Scale bar = 50 μm. (C). Expression analysis of AtCTF7 in wild type and 35S:NTAP:AtCTF7∆B plants. Transcript levels of total AtCTF7 (35S:NTAP:AtCTF7∆B and native AtCTF7) and native AtCTF7 are increased in 35S:NTAP:AtCTF7∆B plants with Line 11 plants exhibiting the highest levels. Buds of wild type, non-dwarf, 4th generation Line 11 plants and 4th generation Line19 plants were used for this experiment. Data are shown as means ± SD (n = 3).