New views of tapetum ultrastructure and pollen exine development in Arabidopsis thaliana

Background and Aims

The Arabidopsis thaliana pollen cell wall is a complex structure consisting of an outer sporopollenin framework and lipid-rich coat, as well as an inner cellulosic wall. Although mutant analysis has been a useful tool to study pollen cell walls, the ultrastructure of the arabidopsis anther has proved to be challenging to preserve for electron microscopy.

Methods

In this work, high-pressure freezing/freeze substitution and transmission electron microscopy were used to examine the sequence of developmental events in the anther that lead to sporopollenin deposition to form the exine and the dramatic differentiation and death of the tapetum, which produces the pollen coat.

Key Results

Cryo-fixation revealed a new view of the interplay between sporophytic anther tissues and gametophytic microspores over the course of pollen development, especially with respect to the intact microspore/pollen wall and the continuous tapetum epithelium. These data reveal the ultrastructure of tapetosomes and elaioplasts, highly specialized tapetum organelles that accumulate pollen coat components. The tapetum and middle layer of the anther also remain intact into the tricellular pollen and late uninucleate microspore stages, respectively.

Conclusions

This high-quality structural information, interpreted in the context of recent functional studies, provides the groundwork for future mutant studies where tapetum and microspore ultrastructure is assessed.     

绒毡层小体,一种在花药绒毡层细胞中新发现的含油细胞器

绒毡层小体(tapetosome)是最近新发现的特异性出现在花药绒毡层细胞中的一种含油细胞器。现对这种细胞器的形态、结构、生化组成、与其他含油细胞器的不同以及它们在花粉外被形成过程中的作用和作用机制进行综述。