Comparative transcriptomics reveals 129 transcripts that are temporally regulated during anther development and meiotic progression in both bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) and rice (Oryza sativa)

Meiosis is a specialised type of cell division in sexually reproducing organisms that generates genetic diversity and prevents chromosome doubling in successive generations. The last decade has seen forward and reverse genetic approaches identifying many genes in the plant kingdom which highlight similarities and differences in the mechanics of meiosis between taxonomic kingdoms. We present here a high throughput in silico analysis, using bread wheat and rice, which has generated a list of 129 transcripts containing genes with meiotic roles and some which are currently unknown.Wayne Crismani, Sanjay Kapoor and Jason A. Abl