In the present genomics era, powerful reverse-genetic strategies are needed to elucidate gene and protein function in the context of a whole organism. However, most current techniques lack the generality and high-throughput potential of descriptive genomic approaches, such as those that rely on microarray hybridization. For example, in plant research, effective insertional mutagenesis and transgenic methods are limited to relatively few species or are inefficient. Fortunately, single-nucleotide changes can be induced in any plant by using traditional chemical mutagens, and progress has been made in efficiently detecting changes. Because base substitutions in proteins provide allelic series, and not just knockouts, this strategy can yield refined insights into protein function. Here, we review recent progress that has been made in genome-wide screening for point mutations and natural variation in plants. Its general applicability leads to the expectation that traditional mutagenesis followed by high-throughput detection will become increasingly important for plant functional genomics.

中文翻译：

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植物功能基因组学的单核苷酸突变

在当前的基因组学时代，需要强大的反向遗传策略来阐明整个生物体中的基因和蛋白质功能。然而，大多数当前技术缺乏描述性基因组方法的通用性和高通量潜力，例如依赖于微阵列杂交的方法。例如，在植物研究中，有效的插入诱变和转基因方法仅限于相对较少的物种或效率低下。幸运的是，使用传统的化学诱变剂可以在任何植物中诱导单核苷酸变化，并且在有效检测变化方面取得了进展。由于蛋白质中的碱基替换提供等位基因系列，而不仅仅是敲除，因此该策略可以对蛋白质功能产生更深入的了解。这里，我们回顾了最近在全基因组筛选植物点突变和自然变异方面取得的进展。它的普遍适用性导致人们期望传统的诱变和高通量检测对植物功能基因组学变得越来越重要。