TILLING with TILLMore

none7A TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesion IN Genomes) resource in barley (cv. Morex) consisting of 4,906 families was produced by sodium azide (NaN_3 ) seed treatment. This resource has been named TILLMore. TILLMore was screened for mutants at several genes based on the analysis of 8- to 12-fold DNA pools produced from M2 or M3 DNA samples. An average of ca. six alleles per gene was identified, which corresponds to a rate of one mutation every 428 kb. Almost all the mutations detected were CG-TA transitions and several (ca. 58%) implied a change in amino acid sequence, hence possible effects on phenotype. The barley-mutagenized population, although developed for reverse-genetics purposes, is also a valuable resource for forward-genetics studies. A high frequency of M3 families (ca. 33%) showed morphological alterations, which have been scored regularly during the growing seasons in reference to wild-type Morex plants (see www.distagenomics.unibo.it/TILLMore/). In particular, a preliminary screening for phenotypes at the root level showed altered root morphology for ca. 7% of the families. Our results indicate the feasibility of using this collection of materials to investigate gene function in barley and closely related crops.noneTALAME' V.; BOVINA R.; SALVI S.; SANGUINETI M.C.; PIFFANELLI P.; LUNDQUIST U.; TUBEROSA R.TALAME' V.; BOVINA R.; SALVI S.; SANGUINETI M.C.; PIFFANELLI P.; LUNDQUIST U.; TUBEROSA R