Arabidopsis ADC genes involved in polyamine biosynthesis are essential for seed development

AbstractArginine decarboxylase (ADC) is a rate-limiting enzyme that catalyzes the first step of polyamine (PA) biosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. We generated a double mutant deficient in Arabidopsis two ADC genes (ADC1−/−ADC2−/−) and examined their roles in seed development. None of the F2 seedlings from crosses of adc1-1 and adc2-2 had the ADC1−/−ADC2−/− genotype. In addition, some abnormal seeds were observed among the ADC1+/−ADC2−/− and ADC1−/−ADC2+/− siliques. Viable offspring with the ADC1−/−ADC2−/− genotype could not be obtained from the ADC1+/−ADC2−/− and ADC1−/−ADC2+/− plants. These results indicate that AtADC genes are required for production of polyamines that are essential for normal seed development in Arabidopsis