Control of anther cell differentiation: a teamwork of receptor-like kinases

Successful sexual reproduction depends on normal cell differentiation during early anther development in flowering plants. The anther typically has four lobes, each of which contains highly specialized reproductive (microsporocyte) and somatic cells (epidermis, endothecium, middle layer, and tapetum). To date, six leucine-rich repeat receptor-like protein kinases (LRR-RLK) have been identified to have roles in regulation of anther cell patterning in Arabidopsis thaliana. EXCESS MICROSPOROCYTES1 (EMS1)/EXTRA SPOROGENOUS CELLS (EXS) and SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASES1/2 (SERK1/2) signal the differentiation of the tapetum. BARELY ANY MERISTEM1/2 (BAM1/2) defines anther somatic cell layers, including the endothecium, middle layer, and tapetum. Moreover, RECEPTOR-LIKE PROTEIN KINASE2 (RPK2) is required for the differentiation of middle layer cells. In addition to process of anther cell differentiation, conserved regulation of anther cell differentiation in different plant species, this review mainly discusses how these receptor-like kinases and other regulators work together to control anther cell fate determination in Arabidopsis.     

Zm401, a short-open reading-frame mRNA or noncoding RNA, is essential for tapetum and microspore development and can regulate the floret formation in maize

In flowering plants, pollen formation depends on the differentiation and interaction of two cell types in the anther: the reproductive cells, called microsporocytes, and somatic cells that form the tapetum. Previously, we cloned a pollen specific gene, zm401, from a cDNA library generated from the mature pollen of Zea mays. Expression of partial cDNA of zm401 in maize and ectopic expression of zm401 in tobacco suggested it may play a role in anther development. Here we present the expression and functional characterization of this pollen specific gene in maize. Zm401 is expressed primarily in the anthers (tapetal cells as well as microspores) in a developmentally regulated manner. That is, it is expressed from floret forming stage, increasing in concentration up to mature pollen. Knockdown of zm401 significantly affected the expression of ZmMADS2, MZm3-3, and ZmC5, critical genes for pollen development; led to aberrant development of the microspore and tapetum, and finally male-sterility. Zm401 possesses highly conserved sequences and evolutionary conserved stable RNA secondary structure in monocotyledon. These data show that zm401 could be one of the key growth regulators in anther development, and functions as a short-open reading-frame mRNA (sORF mRNA) and/or noncoding RNA (ncRNA).     

OsATG7 is required for autophagy-dependent lipid metabolism in rice postmeiotic anther development

In flowering plants, the tapetum, the innermost layer of the anther, provides both nutrient and lipid components to developing microspores, pollen grains, and the pollen coat. Though the programmed cell death of the tapetum is one of the most critical and sensitive steps for fertility and is affected by various environmental stresses, its regulatory mechanisms remain mostly unknown. Here we show that autophagy is required for the metabolic regulation and nutrient supply in anthers and that autophagic degradation within tapetum cells is essential for postmeiotic anther development in rice. Autophagosome-like structures and several vacuole-enclosed lipid bodies were observed in postmeiotic tapetum cells specifically at the uninucleate stage during pollen development, which were completely abolished in a retrotransposon-insertional OsATG7 (autophagy-related 7)-knockout mutant defective in autophagy, suggesting that autophagy is induced in tapetum cells. Surprisingly, the mutant showed complete sporophytic male sterility, failed to accumulate lipidic and starch components in pollen grains at the flowering stage, showed reduced pollen germination activity, and had limited anther dehiscence. Lipidomic analyses suggested impairment of editing of phosphatidylcholines and lipid desaturation in the mutant during pollen maturation. These results indicate a critical involvement of autophagy in a reproductive developmental process of rice, and shed light on the novel autophagy-mediated regulation of lipid metabolism in eukaryotic cells.     

OsATG7 is required for autophagy-dependent lipid metabolism in rice postmeiotic anther development

In flowering plants, the tapetum, the innermost layer of the anther, provides both nutrient and lipid components to developing microspores, pollen grains, and the pollen coat. Though the programmed cell death of the tapetum is one of the most critical and sensitive steps for fertility and is affected by various environmental stresses, its regulatory mechanisms remain mostly unknown. Here we show that autophagy is required for the metabolic regulation and nutrient supply in anthers and that autophagic degradation within tapetum cells is essential for postmeiotic anther development in rice. Autophagosome-like structures and several vacuole-enclosed lipid bodies were observed in postmeiotic tapetum cells specifically at the uninucleate stage during pollen development, which were completely abolished in a retrotransposon-insertional OsATG7 (autophagy-related 7)-knockout mutant defective in autophagy, suggesting that autophagy is induced in tapetum cells. Surprisingly, the mutant showed complete sporophytic male sterility, failed to accumulate lipidic and starch components in pollen grains at the flowering stage, showed reduced pollen germination activity, and had limited anther dehiscence. Lipidomic analyses suggested impairment of editing of phosphatidylcholines and lipid desaturation in the mutant during pollen maturation. These results indicate a critical involvement of autophagy in a reproductive developmental process of rice, and shed light on the novel autophagy-mediated regulation of lipid metabolism in eukaryotic cells.     

Cytological analysis and genetic control of rice anther development

Microsporogenesis and male gametogenesis are essential for the alternating life cycle of flowering plants between diploid sporophyte and haploid gametophyte generations.Rice (Oryza sativa) is the world's major staple food,and manipulation of pollen fertility is particularly important for the demands to increase rice grain yield.Towards a better understanding of the mechanisms controlling rice male reproductive development,we describe here the cytological changes of anther development through 14 stages,including cell division,differentiation and degeneration of somatic tissues consisting of four concentric cell layers surrounding and supporting reproductive cells as they form mature pollen grains through meiosis and mitosis.Furthermore,we compare the morphological difference of anthers and pollen grains in both monocot rice and eudicot Arabidopsis thaliana.Additionally,we describe the key genes identified to date critical for rice anther development and pollen formation.     

西瓜小孢子囊发育及雄配子体发生的观察

西瓜(Citrullus lanatus)小孢子囊的孢原细胞出现在雄花原基出现后4—6天,孢原细胞数目推测只有一列;初生造孢细胞经过2—3次分裂,形成次生造孢细胞。开花前7—8天,小孢子囊发育健全,小孢子母细胞进入减数分裂期。同一花药不同花粉囊相同一药室,花粉母细胞减数分裂和小孢子的发育,并不是高度同步的。绒毡层为异型细胞,腺质绒毡层。雄配子体的发育开始于开花前6—7天,充分成熟的西瓜花粉已分裂为三细胞花粉。     

Tapetum determinant1 is required for cell specialization in the Arabidopsis anther

In flowering plants, pollen formation depends on the differentiation and interaction of two cell types in the anther: the reproductive cells, called microsporocytes, and somatic cells that form the tapetum. The microsporocytes generate microspores, whereas the tapetal cells support the development of microspores into mature pollen grains. Despite their importance to plant reproduction, little is known about the underlying genetic mechanisms that regulate the differentiation and interaction of these highly specialized cells in the anther. Here, we report the identification and characterization of a novel tapetum determinant1 (TPD1) gene that is required for the specialization of tapetal cells in the Arabidopsis anther. Analysis of the male-sterile mutant, tpd1, showed that functional interruption of TPD1 caused the precursors of tapetal cells to differentiate and develop into microsporocytes instead of tapetum. As a results, extra microsporocytes were formed and tapetum was absent in developing tpd1 anthers. Molecular cloning of TPD1 revealed that it encodes a small protein of 176 amino acids. In addition, tpd1 was phenotypically similar to excess microsporocytes1/extra sporogenous cells (ems1/exs) single and tpd1 ems1/exs double mutants. These data suggest that the TPD1 product plays an important role in the differentiation of tapetal cells, possibly in coordination with the EMS1/EXS gene product, a Leu-rich repeat receptor protein kinase.     

The BAM1/BAM2 receptor-like kinases are important regulators of Arabidopsis early anther development

Anther development involves the formation of several adjacent cell types required for normal male fertility. Only a few genes are known to be involved in early anther development, particularly in the establishment of these different cell layers. Arabidopsis thaliana BAM1 (for BARELY ANY MERISTEM) and BAM2 encode CLAVATA1-related Leu-rich repeat receptor-like kinases that appear to have redundant or overlapping functions. We characterized anther development in the bam1 bam2 flowers and found that bam1 bam2 anthers appear to be abnormal at a very early stage and lack the endothecium, middle, and tapetum layers. Analyses using molecular markers and cytological techniques of bam1 bam2 anthers revealed that cells interior to the epidermis acquire some characteristics of pollen mother cells (PMCs), suggesting defects in cell fate specification. The pollen mother-like cells degenerate before the completion of meiosis, suggesting that these cells are defective. In addition, the BAM1 and BAM2 expression pattern supports both an early role in promoting somatic cell fates and a subsequent function in the PMCs. Therefore, analysis of BAM1 and BAM2 revealed a cell-cell communication process important for early anther development, including aspects of cell division and differentiation. This finding may have implications for the evolution of multiple signaling pathways in specifying cell types for microsporogenesis.     

Receptor-like protein kinase 2 (RPK 2) is a novel factor controlling anther development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Receptor-like kinases (RLK) comprise a large gene family within the Arabidopsis genome and play important roles in plant growth and development as well as in hormone and stress responses. Here we report that a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase (LRR-RLK), RECEPTOR-LIKE PROTEIN KINASE2 (RPK2), is a key regulator of anther development in Arabidopsis. Two RPK2 T-DNA insertional mutants (rpk2-1 and rpk2-2) displayed enhanced shoot growth and male sterility due to defects in anther dehiscence and pollen maturation. The rpk2 anthers only developed three cell layers surrounding the male gametophyte: the middle layer was not differentiated from inner secondary parietal cells. Pollen mother cells in rpk2 anthers could undergo meiosis, but subsequent differentiation of microspores was inhibited by tapetum hypertrophy, with most resulting pollen grains exhibiting highly aggregated morphologies. The presence of tetrads and microspores in individual anthers was observed during microspore formation, indicating that the developmental homeostasis of rpk2 anther locules was disrupted. Anther locules were finally crushed without stomium breakage, a phenomenon that was possibly caused by inadequate thickening and lignification of the endothecium. Microarray analyses revealed that many genes encoding metabolic enzymes, including those involved in cell wall metabolism and lignin biosynthesis, were downregulated throughout anther development in rpk2 mutants. RPK2 mRNA was abundant in the tapetum of wild-type anthers during microspore maturation. These results suggest that RPK2 controls tapetal cell fate by triggering subsequent tapetum degradation, and that mutating RPK2 impairs normal pollen maturation and anther dehiscence due to disruption of key metabolic pathways.     

雄性不育与可育楸树花发育的细胞学比较研究

楸树（Catalpa bungei C.A.Meyer.）属紫葳科(Bignoniaceae)梓树属(Catalpa),落叶乔木,是我国特有的珍贵优质用材树种。本文用石蜡切片法对可育株和雄性不育株楸树的大、小孢子发生及雌、雄配子体发育过程进行了详细地比较观察。结果表明：可育株和不育株楸树雌蕊的发育基本相同,胚珠倒生,薄珠心,单珠被,胚囊发育为蓼型。可育株雄蕊花药四室,药隔薄壁组织发达;异型绒粘层,由药壁绒粘层和药隔绒粘层组成;花药壁表皮细胞在小孢子母细胞减数分裂前后开始径向伸长加厚,直到花药开裂并不降解,这可能与花药开裂有关;成熟花粉为四合花粉。雄性不育株花药的早期发育到次生造胞细胞时期与可育雄蕊的相同,小孢子母细胞减数分裂前绒毡层发育不充分;四分体时期,绒毡层细胞高度液泡化,细胞质稀薄,已提前降解,小孢子四分体因绒毡层结构和功能异常而不能正常发育,因此楸树雄性不育为结构型雄性不育。     

华北驼绒藜大小孢子的发生及雌雄配子体发育过程的解剖学研究

运用石蜡切片技术对华北驼绒藜大、小孢子发生及雌、雄配子体的发育进行了研究.结果表明:(1)花药4室,花药壁由表皮、药室内壁、1~2层中层及1层绒毡层组成,药壁发育为基本型,腺质绒毡层,发育后期为二核或三核;(2)四分体胞质分裂为同时型,小孢子四分体多数为四面体型,偶见十字交叉型;(3)成熟花粉2-细胞型,单核小孢子时期存在不同比例的空壳花粉,从0%~80%不等;(4)胚珠倒生,双珠被,厚珠心,大孢子四分体直线型排列,合点端为功能大孢子,蓼型胚囊.     

Early signs of disruption of wheat anther development associated with the induction of male sterility by meiotic-stage water deficit

 Water deficit during meiosis in microspore mother cells of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) induces male sterility, which reduces grain yield. In plants stressed during meiosis and then re-watered, division of microspore mother cells seems to proceed normally, but subsequent pollen development is arrested. Stress-affected anthers generally lack starch. We employed light microscopy in conjunction with histochemistry to compare the developmental anatomy of water-stress-affected and normal anthers. The earliest effects of stress, detectable between meiosis and young microspore stages, were the degeneration of meiocytes, loss of orientation of the reproductive cells, and abnormal vacuolization of tapetal cells. Other effects observed during subsequent developmental stages were deposition of starch in the connective tissue where it is normally not present, hypertrophy of the middle layer or endothecial cells, and deposition of sporopollenin-like substances in the anther loculus. The resulting pollen grains lacked both starch and intine. These results suggest that abnormal degeneration of the tapetum in water-stressed anthers coupled with a loss of orientation of the reproductive cells could be part of early events leading to abortion of microspores. Received: 19 July 1996 / Revision accepted: 6 November 1996     

山麦冬大小孢子发生及雌雄配子体发育研究

采用石蜡切片技术对百合科植物山麦冬大小孢子发生及雌雄配子体发育进行了观察研究。结果表明:(1)山麦冬花药具有4个花粉囊,花药壁的发育方式为基本型,花药壁完全分化时由表皮、药室内壁、中层及绒毡层组成。(2)绒毡层发育类型为分泌型,到四分体孢子彼此分离形成单细胞花粉阶段,绒毡层细胞开始解体退化,花粉成熟时绒毡层细胞完全消失;花粉母细胞减数分裂为连续型,四分体为左右对称形排列,成熟花粉为3-细胞花粉,单萌发沟。(3)子房3室,每室2枚胚珠,胚珠倒生型,双珠被,薄珠心,雌性孢原细胞不经过平周分裂而直接发育而成大孢子母细胞。(4)减数分裂后四分体大孢子呈线型或T型排列,合点端大孢子分化为功能大孢子,胚囊发育为蓼型;花粉母细胞减数分裂过程中,二分体、四分体细胞外方被胼胝质壁所包被,小孢子形成后胼胝质壁逐渐消失。该研究结果丰富了百合科植物生殖生物学研究的内容,也为探讨百合科植物的系统学研究提供了参考。     

Proteomic analysis of lysine acetylation provides strong evidence for involvement of acetylated proteins in plant meiosis and tapetum function

Protein lysine acetylation (KAC) is a dynamic and reversible post‐translational modification that has important biological roles in many organisms. Although KAC has been shown to affect reproductive development and meiosis in yeast and animals, similar studies are largely lacking in flowering plants, especially proteome‐scale investigations for particular reproductive stages. Here, we report results from a proteomic investigation to detect the KAC status of the developing rice anthers near the time of meiosis (RAM), providing strong biochemical evidence for roles of many KAC‐affected proteins during anther development and meiosis in rice. We identified a total of 1354 KAC sites in 676 proteins. Among these, 421 acetylated proteins with 629 KAC sites are novel, greatly enriching our knowledge on KAC in flowering plants. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis showed chromatin silencing, protein folding, fatty acid biosynthetic process and response to stress to be over‐represented. In addition, certain potentially specific KAC motifs in RAM were detected. Importantly, 357 rice meiocyte proteins were acetylated; and four proteins genetically identified to be important for rice tapetum and pollen development were acetylated on 14 KAC sites in total. Furthermore, 47 putative secretory proteins were detected to exhibit acetylated status in RAM. Moreover, by comparing our lysine acetylome with the RAM phosphoproteome we obtained previously, we proposed a correlation between KAC and phosphorylation as a potential modulatory mechanism in rice RAM. This study provides the first global survey of KAC in plant reproductive development, making a promising starting point for further functional analysis of KAC during rice anther development and meiosis.     

ABA and IAA control microsporogenesis in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Petunia hybrida</Emphasis> L.

The formation of fertile male gametophyte is known to require timely degeneration of polyfunctional tapetum tissue. The last process caused by the programmed cell death (PCD) is a part of the anther program maturation which leads to sequential anther tissue destruction coordinated with pollen differentiation. In the present work, distribution of abscisic acid (ABA) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in developing anthers of male-fertile and male-sterile lines of petunia (Petunia hybrida L.) was analyzed by using the immunohistochemical method. It was established that the development of fertile male gametophyte was accompanied by monotonous elevation of ABA and IAA levels in reproductive cells and, in contrast, their monotonous lowering in tapetum cells and the middle layers. Abortion of microsporocytes in the meiosis prophase in the sterile line caused by premature tapetum degeneration along with complete maintenance of the middle layers was accompanied by dramatic, twofold elevation in the levels of both the phytohormones in reproductive cells. The data obtained allowed us to conclude that at the meiosis stage ABA and IAA are involved in the PCD of microsporocytes.