Wudick Michael M, Luu Doan-Trung, Tournaire-Roux Colette, Sakamoto Wataru, Maurel Christophe
Biochimie et Physiologie Moléculaire des Plantes, Institut de Biologie Intégrative des Plantes, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5004 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/Unité Mixte de Recherche 0386 Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique/Montpellier SupAgro/Université Montpellier II, F-34060 Montpellier cedex 2, France.
Plant Physiol. 2014 Apr;164(4):1697-706. doi: 10.1104/pp.113.228700. Epub 2014 Feb 3.
The water and nutrient status of pollen is crucial to plant reproduction. Pollen grains of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) contain a large vegetative cell and two smaller sperm cells. Pollen grains express AtTIP1;3 and AtTIP5;1, two members of the Tonoplast Intrinsic Protein subfamily of aquaporins. To address the spatial and temporal expression pattern of the two homologs, C-terminal fusions of AtTIP1;3 and AtTIP5;1 with green fluorescent protein and mCherry, respectively, were expressed in transgenic Arabidopsis under the control of their native promoter. Confocal laser scanning microscopy revealed that AtTIP1;3 and AtTIP5;1 are specific for the vacuoles of the vegetative and sperm cells, respectively. The tonoplast localization of AtTIP5;1 was established by reference to fluorescent protein markers for the mitochondria and vacuoles of sperm and vegetative cells and is at variance with the claim that AtTIP5;1 is localized in vegetative cell mitochondria. AtTIP1;3-green fluorescent protein and AtTIP5;1-mCherry showed concomitant expression, from first pollen mitosis up to pollen tube penetration in the ovule, thereby revealing the dynamics of vacuole morphology in maturating and germinating pollen. Transfer DNA insertion mutants for either AtTIP1;3 or AtTIP5;1 showed no apparent growth phenotype and had no significant defect in male transmission of the mutated alleles. By contrast, a double knockout displayed an abnormal rate of barren siliques, this phenotype being more pronounced under limited water or nutrient supply. The overall data indicate that vacuoles of vegetative and sperm cells functionally interact and contribute to male fertility in adverse environmental conditions.
花粉的水分和营养状况对植物繁殖至关重要。拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)的花粉粒包含一个大的营养细胞和两个较小的精细胞。花粉粒表达水通道蛋白液泡膜内在蛋白亚家族的两个成员AtTIP1;3和AtTIP5;1。为了研究这两个同源物的时空表达模式,分别将AtTIP1;3和AtTIP5;1与绿色荧光蛋白和mCherry的C端融合体在其天然启动子的控制下在转基因拟南芥中表达。共聚焦激光扫描显微镜显示,AtTIP1;3和AtTIP5;1分别特异性定位于营养细胞和精细胞的液泡中。通过参考精细胞和营养细胞线粒体和液泡的荧光蛋白标记物确定了AtTIP5;1的液泡膜定位,这与AtTIP5;1定位于营养细胞线粒体的说法不一致。AtTIP1;3-绿色荧光蛋白和AtTIP5;1-mCherry从第一次花粉有丝分裂到花粉管穿透胚珠均显示出伴随表达,从而揭示了成熟和萌发花粉中液泡形态的动态变化。AtTIP1;3或AtTIP5;1的转移DNA插入突变体没有明显的生长表型,并且在突变等位基因的雄性传递中没有明显缺陷。相比之下,双敲除显示出不育角果的异常比率,这种表型在水分或养分供应有限的情况下更为明显。总体数据表明,营养细胞和精细胞的液泡在功能上相互作用,并在不利环境条件下对雄性育性有贡献。