LACHESIS restricts gametic cell fate in the female gametophyte of Arabidopsis

In flowering plants, the egg and sperm cells form within haploid gametophytes. The female gametophyte of Arabidopsis consists of two gametic cells, the egg cell and the central cell, which are flanked by five accessory cells. Both gametic and accessory cells are vital for fertilization; however, the mechanisms that underlie the formation of accessory versus gametic cell fate are unknown. In a screen for regulators of egg cell fate, we isolated the lachesis (lis) mutant which forms supernumerary egg cells. In lis mutants, accessory cells differentiate gametic cell fate, indicating that LIS is involved in a mechanism that prevents accessory cells from adopting gametic cell fate. The temporal and spatial pattern of LIS expression suggests that this mechanism is generated in gametic cells. LIS is homologous to the yeast splicing factor PRP4, indicating that components of the splice apparatus participate in cell fate decisions.     

Complex sexual signals for the male gametophyte.

The pollen grain and the pollen tube that grows from it are complex entities which must respond to a diverse array of signals to carry out their roles in sexual reproduction. Research is beginning to reveal the nature both of the signals and of the signal transduction machinery that converts these signals into directional, polarized growth.     

Essential role of the V-ATPase in male gametophyte development

Intracellular pH homeostasis is a prerequisite for biological processes and requires the action of proton pumps. The vacuolar H(+)-ATPase (V-ATPase) is involved in regulating pH in endomembrane compartments of all eukaryotic cells. In plants, there is an additional endomembrane proton pump, H(+)-pyrophosphatase (H(+)-PPase). However, the relative roles of the two types of pumps in endomembrane acidification and energization of secondary active transport are unclear. Here, we show that a strong T-DNA insertion allele of VHA-A, the single copy gene encoding the catalytic subunit of the Arabidopsis V-ATPase, causes complete male and partial female gametophytic lethality. Severe changes in the morphology of Golgi stacks and Golgi-derived vesicles in male gametophytes are the first visible symptoms of cell degeneration leading to a failure to develop mature pollen. Similar effects on Golgi morphology were observed in pollen tubes when growth was blocked by Concanamycin A, a specific V-ATPase inhibitor. Taken together, our results suggests that V-ATPase function is essential for Golgi organization and development of the male gametophyte.     

The evolutionary history of the seed plant male gametophyte

The role of the male gametophyte in the early history of seed plants remains an underappreciated but critical part of the evolution of a suite of characters that ultimately came to define seed plants. Recent paleobotanical discoveries and studies of extant primitive seed plant male gametophytes, when coupled with phylogenetic analyses of seed plants, provide insight into many hey events that occurred during the early evolution of seed plants. These discoveries are changing our ideas concerning the multiple origins of the sulcus (pollen grain germinal aperture) and pollen tube, the structural and physiological relationships of the male gametophyte with the host sporophyte tissues in primitive seed plants, and the evolution of siphonogamy (conduction of non-motile sperm via a pollen tube) from a zooidogamous (swimming sperm) condition.     

獐牙菜小孢子发生及雄配子体发育

用石蜡切片法对獐牙菜小孢子发生及雄配子体发育过程进行首次观察研究。主要结果如下:花药四室,药壁发育为基本型;绒毡层异型起源,属于腺质型绒毡层,药室内具有的退化绒毡层核是早期该层细胞有丝分裂凸入药室中央并原位退化形成的;中层细胞2层;药室内壁同表皮同时宿存,细胞柱状伸长,纤维状加厚。小孢子母细胞减数分裂为同时型,四分体排列方式主要为四面体形,少数为左右对称形和十字交叉形;成熟花粉多为2-细胞类型,偶见3-细胞型,具三萌发孔。     

一品红雄配子体发育研究

一品红花药来源于雄蕊原基,花药由表皮(1层)、药室内壁(1层)、中层(1层)、绒毡层(1层)及造胞细胞组成,花药四室,药壁发育为双子叶型。小孢子发生和雄配子体发育是经由小孢子母细胞减数分裂形成四分体,该四分体胞质分裂为同时型,四分体排列为四面体型,小孢子再经有丝分裂形成2-核花粉。花药壁层的变化是表皮在花药成熟期消失,中层在四分体时消失,药室内壁在花药成熟期形成柱状纤维层。绒毡层在单核小孢子期径向伸长,有双核或多核,另外有的绒毡层细胞形成横隔或类胎座;进入2-核花粉期,绒毡层细胞分泌颗粒物进入药室,为非典型腺质绒毡层;进入成熟期绒毡层消失。同时观察到花药发育异常现象。     

Ethylene inhibitors promote male gametophyte survival in rice

Rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Lalat) was grown in pots under open field conditions during the wet season of 1997. Attempts were made to manipulate the growth and development of the male gametophyte, located on the basal region of the panicle, by exogenous application of chemicals regulating formation/action of ethylene and compare grain setting in the spikelets bearing few grain. Application of ethylene action (AgNO₃) and synthesis inhibitor (Co(NO₃)₂; paclobutrazol and uniconazole) improved grain setting in the spikelets and the ethylene releasing substance 2-chloroethyle phosphonic acid (CEPA) depressed it compared to the control. The ethylene inhibitors promoted dry mass accumulation and concentrations of starch and reducing sugars in the anthers of the basal spikelets, while CEPA reduced the level of these carbohydrates significantly. The ethylene inhibitors helped in the survival of more numbers of pollen in these anthers, but CEPA depressed their number significantly. Promotion of growth of the basal anthers was accompanied by a concomitant reduction in the concentration of nonreducing sugars and enhanced activities of acid invertase and sucrose synthase enzymes. It is concluded that male gametophyte development of the basal spikelets of rice is susceptible to ethylene at the stage of pollen mitosis. The possibility of the hormone interfering in carbohydrate metabolism of the anther during this stage of development is discussed.     

南方山荷叶大、小孢子发生与雌、雄配子体发育

首次报道了南方山荷叶大、小孢子发生和雌、雄配子体形成。主要结果如下:花药4室,花药壁发育为基本型,由7层细胞组成,由外到内依次为表皮、药室内壁、3层中层和2层绒毡层;药室内壁有带状加厚现象,绒毡层细胞多具双核,为腺质型绒毡层;多孢原,发生于表皮下;小孢子母细胞减数分裂为同时型,小孢子四分体多为四面体型,少数为十字交叉形、直线形、左右对称形或T形;成熟花粉粒为2-细胞型,偶见3-细胞型;成熟花粉粒呈圆形,具单萌发孔。雌蕊1枚,子房单心皮,纵切面呈瓶状;1室,边缘胎座,具4～5枚发育不同步的横生胚珠。胚珠具双珠被,厚珠心;珠孔由两层珠被共同形成,在一直线上或呈之字形。多孢原,位于珠心表皮下。直线形四分体,合点端的1个大孢子发育为功能大孢子,胚囊发育为蓼型。成熟胚囊中,3个反足细胞大而明显,但宿存时间短,较早退化。     

Proteome analysis of male gametophyte development in rice anthers

We used proteomic analysis to investigate the changing patterns of protein synthesis during pollen development in anthers from rice plants grown under strictly controlled growth conditions. Cytological analysis and external growth measurements such as anther length, auricle distances and days before flowering were used to determine pollen developmental stages. This allowed the collection of synchronous anther materials representing six discrete pollen developmental stages. Proteins were extracted from the anther samples and separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to produce proteome maps. The anther proteome maps of different developmental stages were compared and 150 protein spots, which were changed consistently during development, were analysed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry to produce peptide mass fingerprint (PMF) data. Database searches using these PMF data revealed the identities of 40 of the protein spots analyzed. These 40 proteins represent 33 unique gene products. Four protein spots that could not be identified by PMF analysis were analysed by N-terminal microsequencing. Multiple charge-isoforms of vacuolar acid invertase, fructokinase, beta-expansin and profilin were identified. These proteins are closely associated with sugar metabolism, cell elongation and cell expansion, all of which are cell activities that are essential to pollen germination. The existence of multiple isoforms of the same proteins suggests that during the process of pollen development some kind of post-translational modification of these proteins occurs.     

The male gametophyte of Bonnemaisonia hamifera Hariot in Norway

The male gametophyte of Bonnemaisonia hamifera Hariot is recorded for the first time in Norway. The plants were collected in the Bj?r?ya archipelago situated between 10° 46′-10° 52′ E and 64° 35·5′-64° 37′ N. Numerous large antheridia were present on the plants which were attached to the rock at a depth of 150–200 cm below E.L.W.S.     

Effects of chilling on male gametophyte development in rice

Chilling during male gametophyte development in rice inhibits development of microspores, causing male sterility. Changes in cellular ultrastructure that have been exposed to mild chilling include microspores with poor pollen wall formation, abnormal vacuolation and hypertrophy of the tapetum and unusual starch accumulation in the plastids of the endothecium in post-meiotic anthers. Anthers observed during tetrad release also have callose (1,3-beta-glucan) wall abnormalities as shown by immunocytochemical labelling. Expression of rice anther specific monosaccharide transporter (OsMST8) is greatly affected by chilling treatment. Perturbed carbohydrate metabolism, which is particularly triggered by repressed genes OsINV4 and OsMST8 during chilling, causes unusual starch storage in the endothecium and this also contributes to other symptoms such as vacuolation and poor microspore wall formation. Premature callose breakdown apparently restricts the basic framework of the future pollen wall. Vacuolation and hypertrophy are also symptoms of osmotic imbalance triggered by the reabsorption of callose breakdown products due to absence of OsMST8 activity.     

芍药雄配子体发育的超微结构研究

用透射电镜对芍药（Paeonia lactiflora Pall)雄配子体发育进行了研究。结果表明,芍药的小孢子母细胞在减数分裂末期Ⅰ时不形成细胞板,在减数分裂前期Ⅱ形成细胞器带,胞质分裂为同时型,生殖细胞刚形成时有呈PAS正反应的拱形壁,当生殖细胞还未完全脱离花粉内壁时,质膜间的壁物质消失,营养细胞中的脂体沿双质膜规律分布形成一单行的脂体带,在二胞花粉晚期,脂体带包围生殖细胞,形成脂体冠,花粉成熟时,包围生殖细胞的脂体消失,生殖细胞与营养核贴近,构成雄性生殖单位,成熟花粉为二细胞型。     

Water deficit disrupts male gametophyte development in Quercus ilex

• Tree species distribution, and hence forest biodiversity, relies on the reproductive capacity of trees, which is currently affected by climate change. Drought‐induced pollen sterility could increase as a consequence of more intense and more frequent droughts projected for temperate and Mediterranean regions, and threaten the sexual regeneration of trees in these regions. To evaluate this possibility, we examined the effect of long‐term partial rainfall exclusion (?27% precipitation) on male reproductive development in holm oak, Quercus ilex , one of the most important and widespread tree species of the Mediterranean region.
• We examined anther area, pollen production, pollen abortion as well as viable pollen production in control and dry treatments. Microscopic examinations revealed significant differences in pollen development between trees in the dry and the control treatments, even though anthesis occurred before the onset of annual drought.
• Our results demonstrate that anthers collected from Q. ilex trees in the dry treatment, which experienced long‐term increased drought stress especially during the summer, were the same size as anthers in the control treatment, but displayed 25% pollen abortion and almost 20% reduction in pollen production. Subsequently, the number of viable pollen grains in anthers from dry treatment was 35% less than in control.
• These results suggest a carry‐over effect of drought stress on pollen production that could reduce the reproductive success of Q. ilex . The results have broad implications for better understanding of the determinants of tree reproduction by masting and anticipate the outcomes of expected drought increase in the Mediterranean on forest dynamics.

     

Sporophyte-gametophyte interactions between anther and male gametophyte in petunia

Sporophyte-gametophyte interactions between anther and male gametophyte were investigated in two (fertile and sterile) clones of petunia (Petunia hybrida L.) with different reproductive strategies. Structural and functional reorganization of sporophyte tissues in the developing anther of fertile clone is closely coordinated with each of the successive stages of male gametophyte development (from meiosis to the formation of binuclear pollen) and comprises not only destruction of tapetum and three middle layers of the wall but also an activation of gas exchange and a rise in the content of sugars (sucrose, fructose, and glucose). In sterile clone, degradation of tapetum and anomalies in the development of sporogenic tissue were simultaneously observed in the prophase of meiosis. The death of microsporocytes and degeneration of tapetum were accompanied by a decrease in the level of sucrose delivered to the anther tissues and changes in the ratio between sucrose and hexoses in favor of glucose.     

Genes expressed in the male gametophyte of flowering plants and their isolation

Recombinant cDNA libraries to poly(A)RNA isolated from mature pollen of Zea mays and Tradescantia paludosa have been constructed. Northern blot analyses indicate that several of the clones are unique to pollen and are not expressed in vegetative tissues. The majority, however, are expressed both in pollen and vegetative tissues. Southern hybridizations show that the pollen specific sequences in corn are present in one or a very few copies in the genome. By using several of the clones as probes, it was found that there are at least two different groups of mRNAs with respect to their synthesis. The mRNAs of the first group represented by the pollen specific clones are synthesized after microspore mitosis and increase in concentration up to maturity. The second group, exemplified by actin mRNA, begins to accumulate soon after meiosis, reaches its maximum by late pollen interphase, and decreases thereafter. Although the actin mRNA and the pollen specific mRNAs studied show very different patterns of initiation of synthesis and accumulation during pollen development, the rates of decline of these mRNAs during the first 60 minutes of germination and pollen tube growth in Tradescantia are similar and reflect the previously observed declines in rates of protein synthesis during this period.