Exploring key developmental phases and phase-specific genes across the entirety of anther development in maize

第一作者：Yingjia Han

第一单位：中科院植物所

通讯作者：Mei Zhang

 Abstarct 

背景回顾：Anther development from stamen primordium to pollen dispersion 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. 

花药从雄蕊原基到花粉散粉这一发育过程是十分复杂的，且对植物的有性生殖至关重要。这一高度动态且复杂的发育过程是如何在基因层面上受到调控的，目前尚不清楚，尤其是特定关键发育阶段的功能基因。

主要研究：Here we generated RNA-sequencing libraries spanning 10 key stages across the entirety of anther development in maize (Zea mays). 

本文中，作者构建了囊括玉米花药发育整个过程的10个关键发育阶段的转录动态图谱。

结果1-发育阶段标记鉴定：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 that they might have important roles in anther development. 

转录组分析揭示了细胞分裂和扩展、减数分裂、花粉成熟过程以及发育成熟的花粉等不同的发育阶段，且分别检测到50、245、42和414个阶段特异性标记基因。阶段特异性的转录因子基因在减数分裂阶段显著富集。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，表明其可能在花药发育过程中发挥重要作用。

结果2-基因功能验证：We explored a desiccation-related protein (DRP) 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. 

作者通过构建敲除突变体，研究了一个脱水相关蛋白编码基因ZmDRP1的功能，该基因在从四分体到单核小孢子阶段的绒毡层中特异表达。值得注意的是，ZmDRP1基因的功能缺失突变会导致雄性育性的完全丧失，其乌氏体异常且花粉外壁缺陷。

结论：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.

本文的研究结果为探索调控花药发育的关键阶段特异性基因提供了宝贵的资源。

 张 梅 

doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jipb.13276

Journal: JIPB

First Published: May 24, 2022

CITE

Yingjia Han, Mingjian Hu, Xuxu Ma, Ge Yan, Chunyu Wang, Siqi Jiang, Haiming Zhao, Jinsheng Lai, Mei Zhang. Exploring key developmental phases and phase-specific genes across the entirety of anther development in maize. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jipb.13276