The Plant Observatory - Arabidopsis thaliana Stock Center

A collection of 55000 T-DNA insertion mutants

It was constructed in the Ws genetic background (Wassilewskija) by an in planta transformation method using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The construction used is described here. The sequences flanking the T-DNA insertions (FST) were determined in each of the collected mutants: 46.236 FST are accessible in the Flagdb ++ database, as well as on the SIGnAL and TAIR websites. Information about FST and how to genotype insertion mutants can be found here.

Collections of natural variants of different geographical origins

A collection of more than 600 accessions from around the world was created to exploit the species' natural diversity. Nested core-collections of 8, 16, ... up to 48 accessions were determined to best represent the diversity of the species with a reduced number of accessions (McKhann et al., 2004). All seed lots were genotyped with 384 SNPs to verify the conformity of distribution lots against reference lots, detect poorly identified accessions and identify some accessions of unknown origin (Simon et al., 2012). This genotyping data, as well as tools we have developed to determine accessions, are accessible on the ANATool website. 800 families of French accessions studied for their adaptive phenotypic variation at the geographical scale (Brachi et al., 2013) are also available.

Nearly 300 F2 mapping populations

These populations result from crosses between natural variants, especially between the 8 accessions of the most reduced core-collection.

16 Recombinant Inbred Line (RIL)

Intended to search for QTL, they were constructed to study the genetic determinism of quantitative traits (Simon et al., 2008). These populations, which include 350 lines each on average, originate from crosses between a pivotal parent (Columbia) and various genetically distant accessions. They are genotyped with about a hundred consensus SNP markers facilitating the correspondences between the maps established on the different populations. Core populations of 164 most informative lines have been established.

A collection of epigenetic recombinant inbred lines (epiRILs)

It was generated in order to study the impact of epigenetic changes such as methylation of DNA on phenotypic variation (Johannes et al., 2009). These epiRILs are derived from two nearly identical parents for their DNA sequence but with contrasting methylation profiles. They can be used to identify epiallelic variants that contribute to a heritable variation of complex traits.

Nearly-isogenic line sets (HIF: Heterogeneous Inbred Family)

They were constructed for confirmation and cloning of QTLs detected on RILs. Complete populations of HIF were created from 3 populations of RIL (Bay-0 x Shahdara, Cvi-0 x Col-0 and Bur-0 x Col-0). Each family is made up of plants that are derived from the same heterozygous line for a given area of the genome and possess for this area the genotype of one or the other of the parents, being identical for all the rest of their genome. Each of the populations comprises about one hundred families covering the entire genome.

56 cytolines

These are genotypes in which organelles (mitochondria and chloroplasts) and the nuclear genome come from different natural accessions. They are used to study the impact of cytoplasmic variations and nucleo-cytoplasmic interactions on the phenotype of plants. 56 cytolines were constructed from reciprocal crossings between the 8 accessions of the core collection, followed by recurrent backcrosses with the male parent, donor of the nuclear genome.