主要研究：Here, we demonstrate that phenylpropanoid pathway derivatives are essential components of sporopollenin in seed plants.

结果1-成分分析：Spectral analyses show that the autofluorescence of Lilium and Arabidopsis sporopollenin is similar to that of lignin. Thioacidolysis and NMR analyses of pollen from Lilium and Cryptomeria show that the sporopollenin of seed plants contains phenylpropanoid derivatives, including p-hydroxybenzoate (p-BA), p-coumarate (p-CA), ferulate (FA) and lignin guaiacyl (G) units. 

结果2-荧光信号：Signals from the phenylpropanoid pathway genes fused to VENUS fluorescent proteins demonstrate that the phenylpropanoid pathway is expressed in the tapetum in Arabidopsis, which is consistent with the fact that the sporopollenin precursor originates from the tapetum.

结果3-萌发、彗星试验：Further germination and comet assays show that this pathway plays an important role in pollen protection against UV radiation. In the pteridophyte plants species Ophioglossum and Lycopodium, phenylpropanoid derivatives including p-BA and p-CA were also detected, but G units were not.

结论：Together, our results indicate that phenylpropanoid derivatives are essential for sporopollenin synthesis in vascular plants. In addition, sporopollenin autofluorescence spectra of bryophytes such as Physcomitrella and Haplocladium exhibit distinct characteristics compared with those of vascular plants, indicating diversity of sporopollenin among land plants.

彗星实验（Comet Assay），又叫单细胞凝胶电泳（single cell gel electrophoresis Assay，SCGE），是一种检测真核细胞DNA损伤的技术，原理主要是把包埋于琼脂糖中的细胞裂解，然后把DNA解旋和电泳。如果细胞DNA断裂成碎片，染色后会在显微镜下看到彗星样的结构。