A new, unstable, organ-specific Adh1 mutant was isolated from a Robertson's mutator line by germinating kernels under partial anaerobic conditions. Families of kernels which showed segregation of a conditional anaerobic lethal phenotype were identified. One mutant, Adh1-3F1124, was shown to express approximately 6% normal levels of ADH1 in seed and anaerobically treated seedlings but expresses normal levels of ADH1 in pollen, the male gametophyte. The ADH1 polypeptide encoded by the mutant allele was found to be indistinguishable from that encoded by the Adh1-3F progenitor but its message levels were lower in seed and seedlings. Robertson's mutator lines are known to carry Mu transposons that cause increased mutation rates. Genomic Southern analysis of Adh1-3F1124 and Adh1-3F showed the presence of a 1.85 kbp insertion at the 5' region of Adh1. Comparison of the DNA sequences revealed that a Mu 1-like element was inserted 31 bp 5' from the transcriptional start site of Adh1-3F1124 gene. The insertion of the Mu element creates an additional TATA box by duplicating the 9 bp genomic sequence--ATATAAATC--at the site of insertion. Consequently, there are two potentially functional TATA sequences, separated by the 1.85 kbp Mu element, 5' to the transcriptional start site. It is not yet understood how such an arrangement alters the organ-specific expression of Adh1.