<i>BonnMu</i>: A Resource for Functional Genomics in Maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.)

The <i>BonnMu</i> resource is a public transposon-tagged population designed for reverse and forward genetics studies in maize (<i>Zea mays</i> L.). The resource was created by crossing an active <i>Mutator</i> (<i>Mu</i>) transposon line into different inbred lines to induce insertional mutations. The resulting F₁ generation was self-pollinated to generate segregating <i>BonnMu</i> F₂ stocks. The <i>Mu</i>-tagged <i>BonnMu</i> F₂ stocks have insertions in 83% of all annotated maize gene models, and <i>Mu</i> insertion positions and photos of the seedling phenotypes of the segregating <i>BonnMu</i> F₂ stocks are deposited in the Maize Genetics and Genomics Database (MaizeGDB), with seeds available to the community. Here, we discuss the creation, expansion, and application of the <i>BonnMu</i> resource for identifying and characterizing mutations induced by <i>Mu</i> transposons, which represents a useful tool for functional genomics studies in maize.