Genetic characterization of hadad, a mutant disrupting female gametogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Abstract

The plant life cycle alternates between a diploid and a haploid generation, the spore-producing sporophyte and the gamete-producing gametophyte. Unlike in animals, where meiotic products differentiate directly into gametes, the haploid spores of plants divide mitotically to form a multicellular haploid organism. The differentiation of gametes occurs later in the development of the gametophyte.