Expression profiling of immature ovule and pistil samples of sexual and apomictic Boechera (Brassicaceae)

Sexual reproduction (meiosis and syngamy) is the major form of reproduction in diploid Boechera species, but most species hybrids reproduce by apomixis (unreduced gametophyte formation followed by parthenogenesis of the unreduced egg). In this study, we used Arabidopsis microarrays to detail global programs of gene expression underlying sexual and apomictic modes of reproduction. For apomictic B. x formosa, B. lignifera and B. microphylla, ovules were microexcised from ovaries at the megaspore mother cell, meiosis, early gametophyte and late gametophyte stages. For sexual B. stricta, pistils were excised at the meiosis and early gametophyte stages. RNA was extracted, amplified and hybridized to Affymetrix ATH1 microarrays.