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Abstract

The activity of genes and their encoded products can be regulated in several ways, but transcription is the primary level, since all other modes of regulation (RNA splicing, RNA and protein stability, etc.) are dependent on a gene being transcribed in the first place. The importance of transcriptional regulation has been underscored by the recent flood of global expression analyses, which have confirmed that transcriptional co-regulation of genes that act together is the norm, not the exception. Moreover, many studies suggest that evolutionary change is driven in large part by modifications of transcriptional programs. An essential first step toward deciphering the transcriptional code is to determine the expression pattern of all genes. With this goal in mind, an international effort to develop a gene expression atlas of Arabidopsis has been underway since fall 2003. This project, dubbed AtGenExpress, is funded by the DFG and the MPG, and will provide the Arabidopsis community with free access to a comprehensive set of Affymetrix microarray data. As part of this collaboration, we have generated expression data from 79 samples in triplicate focusing on development of wild-type Columbia (Col-0) and various mutants. Samples consist of a wide range of Arabidopsis tissues, including microscopically dissected organs, at various developmental stages. A metaanalysis of the data set will be presented.