Fernández-Gómez José, Talle Behzad, Tidy Alison C, Wilson Zoe A
School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK.
J Exp Bot. 2020 Jun 22;71(12):3475-3484. doi: 10.1093/jxb/eraa156.
Wheat is one of the most important crops in the world; however, loss of genetic variability and abiotic stress caused by variable climatic conditions threaten future productivity. Reproduction is critical for wheat yield; however, pollen development is amongst the developmental stages most sensitive to stresses such as heat, cold, or drought. A better understanding of how anther and pollen development is regulated is needed to help produce more resilient crops and ensure future yield increases. However, in cereals such as wheat, barley, and rice, flowers form within the developing pseudostem and therefore accurate staging of floral materials is extremely challenging. This makes detailed phenotypic and molecular analysis of floral development very difficult, particularly when limited plant material is available, for example with mutant or transgenic lines. Here we present an accurate approach to overcome this problem, by non-destructive staging of reproduction development in Cadenza, the widely used spring wheat research variety. This uses a double-scale system whereby anther and pollen development can be predicted in relation to spike size and spike position within the pseudostem. This system provides an easy, reproducible method that facilitates accurate sampling and analysis of floral materials, to enable anther and pollen developmental research.
小麦是世界上最重要的作物之一；然而，遗传变异性的丧失以及多变气候条件导致的非生物胁迫威胁着未来的生产力。繁殖对小麦产量至关重要；然而，花粉发育是对高温、低温或干旱等胁迫最为敏感的发育阶段之一。需要更好地了解花药和花粉发育是如何调控的，以帮助培育出更具抗逆性的作物并确保未来产量增加。然而，在小麦、大麦和水稻等谷类作物中，花在发育中的假茎内形成，因此对花材料进行准确分期极具挑战性。这使得对花发育进行详细的表型和分子分析非常困难，尤其是当可获得的植物材料有限时，例如突变体或转基因系。在此，我们提出一种准确的方法来克服这一问题，即通过对广泛使用的春小麦研究品种卡丹萨（Cadenza）的生殖发育进行非破坏性分期。这采用了一种双尺度系统，据此可以根据穗大小和假茎内的穗位置来预测花药和花粉发育。该系统提供了一种简便、可重复的方法，便于对花材料进行准确采样和分析，以开展花药和花粉发育研究。
