The molecular biology of anther differentiation

Abstract This review attempts to summarise recent progress in our understanding of androgenesis in plants. There are two major divisions within this work. The first is a cytomorphological description of anther development and gametogenesis in model hermaphrodite plants. This is intended as a background against which to view the molecular biological information; this aspect constitutes the second main division in this chapter. The approach taken in describing these recent advances is intended to reflect, more or less, how these were made in practice. Gene cloning via cDNA library construction from whole anther organs or microspores represents the main technique, and therefore the merits of this approach, as applied to the developing anther, are discussed. In particular, the influence of cDNA library construction and screening methods on the type or class of genes identified to date are highlighted. The information generated from gene cloning is divided roughly into three sections. The first of these describes how the synthesis of specific mRNAs has provided valuable insights into the physiology and ontogeny of anther development. The physical and functional properties of cloned cDNAs cognate to mRNAs expressed within the anther are the subject of the second section. The third of these sections deals with anther-expressed genes, including analysis in transgenic plants. Finally, the commercial spin-off from this part of plant science, artificial male sterility, is discussed.

[1]  J. P. Mascarenhas.  The Male Gametophyte of Flowering Plants. , 1989, The Plant cell.

[2]  J L Bowman,et al.  Genes directing flower development in Arabidopsis. , 1989, The Plant cell.

[3]  H. Stern,et al.  Studies of meiosis in vitro. I. In vitro culture of meiotic cells. , 1967, Developmental biology.

[4]  H. Stieglitz,et al.  Regulation of ?-1,3-glucanase activity in developing anthers of , 1973 .

[5]  J. Mol,et al.  Pollen- and anther-specific chi promoters from petunia: tandem promoter regulation of the chiA gene. , 1990, The Plant cell.

[6]  E. Nave,et al.  Enzymatic Changes in Post-meiotic Anther Development in Petunia hybrida. I. Anther Ontogeny and Isozyme Analyses , 1986 .

[7]  P. Echlin,et al.  The ultrastructure and ontogeny of pollen in Helleborus foetidus L. II. Pollen grain development through the callose special wall stage. , 1968, Journal of cell science.

[8]  G. Fincher,et al.  Isolation and characterization of a (1 → 3)‐β‐glucan endohydrolase from germinating barley (Hordeum vulgare): amino acid sequence similarity with barley (1 → 3, 1 → 4)‐β‐glucanases , 1988 .

[9]  Molecular analysis of tap2, an anther‐specific gene from Antirrhinum majus , 1991, FEBS letters.

[10]  Y. Hotta,et al.  The effect of dephosphorylation on the properties of a helix-destabilizing protein from meiotic cells and its partial reversal by a protein kinase. , 1979, European journal of biochemistry.

[11]  J. Heslop-Harrison.  Cytoplasmic Connexions between Angiosperm Meiocytes , 1966 .

[12]  J. P. Mascarenhas,et al.  Genes expressed in the male gametophyte of flowering plants and their isolation. , 1987, Plant physiology.

[13]  J. P. Mascarenhas,et al.  Analysis of the Complexity and Diversity of mRNAs from Pollen and Shoots of Tradescantia. , 1984, Plant physiology.

[14]  J. B. Smith,et al.  Cell development in the anther, the ovule, and the young seed of Triticum aestivum L. var. Chinese Spring , 1973 .

[15]  J. Heslop-Harrison.  Cytoplasmic continuities during spore formation in flowering plants , 1966 .

[16]  C. Somerville,et al.  Positive selection for male-sterile mutants of Arabidopsis lacking adenine phosphoribosyl transferase activity. , 1988, Plant physiology.

[17]  H. Sommer,et al.  Deficiens, a homeotic gene involved in the control of flower morphogenesis in Antirrhinum majus: the protein shows homology to transcription factors. , 1990, The EMBO journal.

[18]  Y. Hotta,et al.  DNA unwinding protein from meiotic cells of Lilium. , 1978, Biochemistry.

[19]  D. A. Larson,et al.  Pollen Wall Development in Parkinsonia Aculeata , 1962 .

[20]  G. Binelli,et al.  Isozyme and HSP gene expression during male gametophyte development in maize. , 1987, Isozymes.

[21]  J. Heslop-Harrison,et al.  Autoradiography of soluble [2-14-C]thymidine derivatives during meiosis and microsporogenesis in Lilium anthers. , 1967, Journal of cell science.

[22]  M. Willemse,et al.  The Female Gametophyte , 1984 .

[23]  H. Reiss,et al.  Nifedipine-sensitive calcium channels are involved in polar growth of lily pollen tubes. , 1985, Journal of cell science.

[24]  A. Koltunow,et al.  Different Temporal and Spatial Gene Expression Patterns Occur during Anther Development. , 1990, The Plant cell.

[25]  R. Bouchard.  Characterization of expressed meiotic prophase repeat transcript clones of Lilium: meiosis-specific expression, relatedness, and affinities to small heat shock protein genes. , 1990, Genome.

[26]  R. Wayne,et al.  CALCIUM AND PLANT DEVELOPMENT , 1985 .

[27]  J. Paszkowski,et al.  Purine metabolism in mesophyll protoplasts of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) leaves. , 1980, The Biochemical journal.

[28]  R. Fluhr,et al.  Pathogenesis-related proteins are developmentally regulated in tobacco flowers. , 1989, The Plant cell.

[29]  J. Heslop-Harrison.  TAPETAL ORIGIN OF POLLEN‐COAT SUBSTANCES IN LILIUM , 1968 .

[30]  B. Juniper,et al.  THE ULTRASTRUCTURE OF POLLEN‐GRAIN DEVELOPMENT IN THE OLIVE (OLEA EUROPAEA). 1. PROTEINS IN THE PORE* , 1979 .

[31]  E. Nave,et al.  Enzymatic Changes in Post-meiotic Anther Development in Petunia hybrida. II. Histochemical Localization of Esterase, Peroxidase, Malate- and Alcohol dehydrogenase , 1986 .

[32]  O. Nelson,et al.  Starch-synthesizing Enzymes in the Endosperm and Pollen of Maize. , 1979, Plant physiology.

[33]  Professor Dr. Mohan L. H. Kaul.  Male Sterility in Higher Plants , 1988, Monographs on Theoretical and Applied Genetics.

[34]  Hong Ma,et al.  The protein encoded by the Arabidopsis homeotic gene agamous resembles transcription factors , 1990, Nature.

[35]  R. Knox,et al.  Sexual reproduction in flowering plants , 1997 .

[36]  D. Twell,et al.  Pollen-specific gene expression in transgenic plants: coordinate regulation of two different tomato gene promoters during microsporogenesis. , 1990, Development.

[37]  Michio Ito,et al.  Characteristics of Isolated Microsporocytes from Liliaceous Plants for Studies of the Meiotic Cell Cycle in Vitro , 1981 .

[38]  C. Mariani,et al.  Induction of male sterility in plants by a chimaeric ribonuclease gene , 1990, Nature.

[39]  G. Bernier.  The control of floral evocation and morphogenesis , 1988 .

[40]  R. Goldberg,et al.  Regulation of structural gene expression in tobacco , 1980, Cell.

[41]  H. E. Warmke,et al.  Cytoplasmic Male Sterility in Sorghum II. Tapetal behavior in fertile and sterile anthers , 1972 .

[42]  D. A. Hamilton,et al.  Characterization of a pollen-specific cDNA clone from Zea mays and its expression. , 1989, The Plant cell.

[43]  J. Rowley.  The Fine Structure of the Pollen Wall in the Commelinaceae , 1959 .

[44]  S. Brown,et al.  Characterization of a gene family abundantly expressed in Oenothera organensis pollen that shows sequence similarity to polygalacturonase. , 1990, The Plant cell.

[45]  J. Hofsteenge,et al.  Evidence for N- and C-terminal processing of a plant defense-related enzyme: Primary structure of tobacco prepro-beta-1,3-glucanase. , 1988, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[46]  H. Stern,et al.  The appearance of DNA breakage and repair activities in the synchronous meiotic cycle of Lilium. , 1971, Journal of molecular biology.

[47]  J. Heslop-Harrison.  Wall development within the microspore tetrad of Lilium longiflorum , 1968 .

[48]  J. Heslop-Harrison.  The Croonian Lecture, 1974 - The physiology of the pollen grain surface , 1975, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological Sciences.

[49]  K. Gull,et al.  Differential and developmental expression of beta-tubulins in a higher plant. , 1988, The Journal of biological chemistry.

[50]  A. J. Ullstrup.  The Impacts of the Southern Corn Leaf Blight Epidemics of 1970-1971 , 1972 .

[51]  G. Shaw.  chemistry of sporopollenin , 1970 .