Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Physiology, Institute of Botany, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China.
State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry & National Maize Improvement Center of China Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
J Integr Plant Biol. 2022 Jul;64(7):1394-1410. doi: 10.1111/jipb.13276.
Anther development from stamen primordium to pollen dispersal is complex and essential to sexual reproduction. How this highly dynamic and complex developmental process is controlled genetically is not well understood, especially for genes involved in specific key developmental phases. Here we generated RNA sequencing libraries spanning 10 key stages across the entirety of anther development in maize (Zea mays). Global transcriptome analyses revealed distinct phases of cell division and expansion, meiosis, pollen maturation, and mature pollen, for which we detected 50, 245, 42, and 414 phase-specific marker genes, respectively. Phase-specific transcription factor genes were significantly enriched in the phase of meiosis. The phase-specific expression of these marker genes was highly conserved among the maize lines Chang7-2 and W23, indicating they might have important roles in anther development. We explored a desiccation-related protein gene, ZmDRP1, which was exclusively expressed in the tapetum from the tetrad to the uninucleate microspore stage, by generating knockout mutants. Notably, mutants in ZmDRP1 were completely male-sterile, with abnormal Ubisch bodies and defective pollen exine. Our work provides a glimpse into the gene expression dynamics and a valuable resource for exploring the roles of key phase-specific genes that regulate anther development.
雄蕊原基到花粉传播的花药发育过程复杂而对于有性生殖至关重要。遗传上如何控制这个高度动态和复杂的发育过程还不太清楚，特别是对于参与特定关键发育阶段的基因。在这里，我们生成了跨越玉米（Zea mays）整个花药发育的 10 个关键阶段的 RNA 测序文库。全转录组分析揭示了细胞分裂和扩张、减数分裂、花粉成熟和成熟花粉的不同阶段，我们分别检测到了 50、245、42 和 414 个阶段特异性标记基因。减数分裂阶段的阶段特异性转录因子基因显著富集。这些标记基因在玉米品系 Chang7-2 和 W23 中的阶段特异性表达高度保守，表明它们可能在花药发育中具有重要作用。我们通过生成敲除突变体，探索了一个与脱水相关的蛋白基因 ZmDRP1，该基因仅在小孢子四分体到单核期的绒毡层中表达。值得注意的是，ZmDRP1 突变体完全雄性不育，具有异常的 Ubisch 体和有缺陷的花粉外壁。我们的工作提供了对基因表达动态的深入了解，并且是探索调节花药发育的关键阶段特异性基因的作用的宝贵资源。
