scholarly journals Cysteine-rich peptides promote interspecific genetic isolation in Arabidopsis

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 364 (6443) ◽  
pp. eaau9564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheng Zhong ◽  
Meiling Liu ◽  
Zhijuan Wang ◽  
Qingpei Huang ◽  
Saiying Hou ◽  
...  

Reproductive isolation is a prerequisite for speciation. Failure of communication between female tissues of the pistil and paternal pollen tubes imposes hybridization barriers in flowering plants. Arabidopsis thaliana LURE1 (AtLURE1) peptides and their male receptor PRK6 aid attraction of the growing pollen tube to the ovule. Here, we report that the knockout of the entire AtLURE1 gene family did not affect fertility, indicating that AtLURE1-PRK6–mediated signaling is not required for successful fertilization within one Arabidopsis species. AtLURE1s instead function as pollen tube emergence accelerators that favor conspecific pollen over pollen from other species and thus promote reproductive isolation. We also identified maternal peptides XIUQIU1 to -4, which attract pollen tubes regardless of species. Cooperation between ovule attraction and pollen tube growth acceleration favors conspecific fertilization and promotes reproductive isolation.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Kollárová ◽  
Anežka Baquero Forero ◽  
Fatima Cvrčková

Formins are a large, evolutionarily conserved family of actin-nucleating proteins with additional roles in regulating microfilament, microtubule, and membrane dynamics. Angiosperm formins, expressed in both sporophytic and gametophytic tissues, can be divided into two subfamilies, Class I and Class II, each often exhibiting characteristic domain organization. Gametophytically expressed Class I formins have been documented to mediate plasma membrane-based actin assembly in pollen grains and pollen tubes, contributing to proper pollen germination and pollen tube tip growth, and a rice Class II formin, FH5/RMD, has been proposed to act as a positive regulator of pollen tube growth based on mutant phenotype and overexpression data. Here we report functional characterization of the Arabidopsis thaliana pollen-expressed typical Class II formin FH13 (At5g58160). Consistent with published transcriptome data, live-cell imaging in transgenic plants expressing fluorescent protein-tagged FH13 under the control of the FH13 promoter revealed expression in pollen and pollen tubes with non-homogeneous signal distribution in pollen tube cytoplasm, suggesting that this formin functions in the male gametophyte. Surprisingly, fh13 loss of function mutations do not affect plant fertility but result in stimulation of in vitro pollen tube growth, while tagged FH13 overexpression inhibits pollen tube elongation. Pollen tubes of mutants expressing a fluorescent actin marker exhibited possible minor alterations of actin organization. Our results thus indicate that FH13 controls or limits pollen tube growth, or, more generally, that typical Class II formins should be understood as modulators of pollen tube elongation rather than merely components of the molecular apparatus executing tip growth.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Biying Dong ◽  
Qing Yang ◽  
Zhihua Song ◽  
Lili Niu ◽  
Hongyan Cao ◽  
...  

AbstractMature pollen germinates rapidly on the stigma, extending its pollen tube to deliver sperm cells to the ovule for fertilization. The success of this process is an important factor that limits output. The flavonoid content increased significantly during pollen germination and pollen tube growth, which suggests it may play an important role in these processes. However, the specific mechanism of this involvement has been little researched. Our previous research found that hyperoside can prolong the flowering period of Abelmoschus esculentus (okra), but its specific mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, in this study, we focused on the effect of hyperoside in regulating the actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF), which further affects the germination and growth of pollen. We found that hyperoside can prolong the effective pollination period of okra by 2–3-fold and promote the growth of pollen tubes in the style. Then, we used Nicotiana benthamiana cells as a research system and found that hyperoside accelerates the depolymerization of intercellular microfilaments. Hyperoside can promote pollen germination and pollen tube elongation in vitro. Moreover, AeADF1 was identified out of all AeADF genes as being highly expressed in pollen tubes in response to hyperoside. In addition, hyperoside promoted AeADF1-mediated microfilament dissipation according to microfilament severing experiments in vitro. In the pollen tube, the gene expression of AeADF1 was reduced to 1/5 by oligonucleotide transfection. The decrease in the expression level of AeADF1 partially reduced the promoting effect of hyperoside on pollen germination and pollen tube growth. This research provides new research directions for flavonoids in reproductive development.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Weimiao Liu ◽  
Liai Xu ◽  
Hui Lin ◽  
Jiashu Cao

The growth of plant cells is inseparable from relaxation and expansion of cell walls. Expansins are a class of cell wall binding proteins, which play important roles in the relaxation of cell walls. Although there are many members in expansin gene family, the functions of most expansin genes in plant growth and development are still poorly understood. In this study, the functions of two expansin genes, AtEXPA4 and AtEXPB5 were characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana. AtEXPA4 and AtEXPB5 displayed consistent expression patterns in mature pollen grains and pollen tubes, but AtEXPA4 also showed a high expression level in primary roots. Two single mutants, atexpa4 and atexpb5, showed normal reproductive development, whereas atexpa4atexpb5 double mutant was defective in pollen tube growth. Moreover, AtEXPA4 overexpression enhanced primary root elongation, on the contrary, knocking out AtEXPA4 made the growth of primary root slower. Our results indicated that AtEXPA4 and AtEXPB5 were redundantly involved in pollen tube growth and AtEXPA4 was required for primary root elongation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 65-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Milatović ◽  
D. Nikolić ◽  
B. Krška

Self-(in)compatibility was tested in 40 new apricot cultivars from European breeding programmes. Pollen-tube growth in pistils from laboratory pollinations was analysed using the fluorescence microscopy. Cultivars were considered self-compatible if at least one pollen tube reached the ovary in the majority of pistils. Cultivars were considered self- incompatible if the growth of pollen tubes in the style stopped along with formation of characteristic swellings. Of the examined cultivars, 18 were self-compatible and 22 were self-incompatible. Fluorescence microscopy provides a relatively rapid and reliable method to determine self-incompatibility in apricot cultivars.      


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Duckney ◽  
Johan T. Kroon ◽  
Martin R. Dixon ◽  
Timothy J. Hawkins ◽  
Michael J. Deeks ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Laetitia Poidevin ◽  
Javier Forment ◽  
Dilek Unal ◽  
Alejandro Ferrando

ABSTRACTPlant reproduction is one key biological process very sensitive to heat stress and, as a consequence, enhanced global warming poses serious threats to food security worldwide. In this work we have used a high-resolution ribosome profiling technology to study how heat affects both the transcriptome and the translatome of Arabidopsis thaliana pollen germinated in vitro. Overall, a high correlation between transcriptional and translational responses to high temperature was found, but specific regulations at the translational level were also present. We show that bona fide heat shock genes are induced by high temperature indicating that in vitro germinated pollen is a suitable system to understand the molecular basis of heat responses. Concurrently heat induced significant down-regulation of key membrane transporters required for pollen tube growth, thus uncovering heat-sensitive targets. We also found that a large subset of the heat-repressed transporters is specifically up-regulated, in a coordinated manner, with canonical heat-shock genes in pollen tubes grown in vitro and semi in vivo, based on published transcriptomes from Arabidopsis thaliana. Ribosome footprints were also detected in gene sequences annotated as non-coding, highlighting the potential for novel translatable genes and translational dynamics.


2014 ◽  
Vol 65 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 101-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renata Śnieżko ◽  
Krystyna Winiarczyk

After selfpollination of <em>Sinapis alba</em> L. pollen tubes growth is inhibited on the stigma. The pollen grains germinate 3-4 hours after pollination. The pollen give rise to one or more pollen tubes. They grow along the papillae. In the place of contact between the papilla and pollen tube the pellicula is digested. Then the direction of pollen tube growth changes completely. Pollen tubes grow back on the exine of their own pollen grain, or turn into the air. The pollen tubes growth was inhibited in 6-8 hours after selfpollination. After crosspollination usually there is no incompatibility reaction.


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