About the Cover
On the Front Cover: As this playful representation of Arabidopsis research suggests, a young and enthusiastic community now enjoys the ability to combine molecular, physiological, and bioinformatic approaches in tackling basic questions in plant biology. Playing with Arabidopsis is enabled by an impressive range of research tools, by the synergistic effect of many investigators studying a single species, and by the availability of the full genome sequence
accessible from any computer. This month's Special Issue, devoted to Arabidopsis, displays the diversity of experimental approaches that are now feasible to tackle a large range of questions in the "lab-weed." The information gathered from continued Arabidopsis research will surely not only be for playing purposes. Its utility will range from a deeper understanding of plants to sensible biotechnological applications in the near future. (Drawing by Sjoerd Scheres.) On the Back Cover: An image is shown of a defective chloroplast in the non-pigmented cotyledons of the Arabidopsis embryo mutant, schlepperless (Apuya et al., pp. 717-730). This image was taken by transmission electron microscopy and given a three-dimensional texture by using the emboss software filter in Adobe Photoshop. schlepperless is a T-DNA-tagged mutant that prevents the formation of normal-sized cotyledons due to a retardation of embryo development. The schlepperless T-DNA interrupts the chaperonin-60
gene and prevents normal chloroplast development by eliminating the production of plastid chaperonin 60 synthesis. These experiments suggest that embryo development requires, in part, the presence of chaperonin 60 and functional chloroplasts.
[Table of Contents]
Copyright © 2007 by the American Society of Plant Biologists
