The fully linked HTML version of this article has now been published.
Development ePress online publication date 10 Jul 2006
doi: 10.1242/dev.02463
Research article
Regulation of Arabidopsis tapetum development and function by DYSFUNCTIONAL TAPETUM1 (DYT1) encoding a putative bHLH transcription factor
Wei Zhang,
Yujin Sun,
Ljudmilla Timofejeva,
Changbin Chen,
Ueli Grossniklaus,
and
Hong Ma*
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: hxm16{at}psu.edu)
In flowering plants, male fertility depends on proper cell differentiation in the anther. However, relatively little is known about the genes that regulate anther cell differentiation and function. Here, we report the analysis of a new Arabidopsis male sterile mutant, dysfunctional tapetum1 (dyt1). The dyt1 mutant exhibits abnormal anther morphology beginning at anther stage 4, with tapetal cells that have excess and/or enlarged vacuoles and lack the densely stained cytoplasm typical of normal tapetal cells. The mutant meiocytes are able to complete meiosis I, but they do not have a thick callose wall; they often fail to complete meiotic cytokinesis and eventually collapse. DYT1 encodes a putative bHLH transcription factor and is strongly expressed in the tapetum from late anther stage 5 to early stage 6, and at a lower level in meiocytes. In addition, the level of DYT1 mRNA is reduced in the sporocyteless/nozzle (spl/nzz) and excess microsporocytes1/extra sporogenous cell (ems1/exs) mutants; together with the mutant phenotypes, this suggests that DYT1 acts downstream of SPL/NZZ and EMS1/EXS. RT-PCR results showed that the expression levels of many tapetum-preferential genes are reduced significantly in the dyt1 mutant, indicating that DYT1 is important for the expression of tapetum genes. Our results support the hypothesis that DYT1 is a crucial component of a genetic network that controls anther development and function.

CiteULike
Complore
Connotea
Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Technorati
Twitter What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
Z. A. Wilson and D.-B. Zhang
From Arabidopsis to rice: pathways in pollen development
J. Exp. Bot.,
April 1, 2009;
60(5):
1479 - 1492.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. de Azevedo Souza, S. S. Kim, S. Koch, L. Kienow, K. Schneider, S. M. McKim, G. W. Haughn, E. Kombrink, and C. J. Douglas
A Novel Fatty Acyl-CoA Synthetase Is Required for Pollen Development and Sporopollenin Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis
PLANT CELL,
February 1, 2009;
21(2):
507 - 525.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. L.H. Hord, Y.-J. Sun, L. J. Pillitteri, K. U. Torii, H. Wang, S. Zhang, and H. Ma
Regulation of Arabidopsis Early Anther Development by the Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases, MPK3 and MPK6, and the ERECTA and Related Receptor-Like Kinases
Mol Plant,
July 1, 2008;
1(4):
645 - 658.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
D.-S. Zhang, W.-Q. Liang, Z. Yuan, N. Li, J. Shi, J. Wang, Y.-M. Liu, W.-J. Yu, and D.-B. Zhang
Tapetum Degeneration Retardation is Critical for Aliphatic Metabolism and Gene Regulation during Rice Pollen Development
Mol Plant,
July 1, 2008;
1(4):
599 - 610.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. C. Sheldon, M. J. Hills, C. Lister, C. Dean, E. S. Dennis, and W. J. Peacock
Resetting of FLOWERING LOCUS C expression after epigenetic repression by vernalization
PNAS,
February 12, 2008;
105(6):
2214 - 2219.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
G. Jia, X. Liu, H. A. Owen, and D. Zhao
Signaling of cell fate determination by the TPD1 small protein and EMS1 receptor kinase
PNAS,
February 12, 2008;
105(6):
2220 - 2225.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. Ito, N. Nagata, Y. Yoshiba, M. Ohme-Takagi, H. Ma, and K. Shinozaki
Arabidopsis MALE STERILITY1 Encodes a PHD-Type Transcription Factor and Regulates Pollen and Tapetum Development
PLANT CELL,
November 1, 2007;
19(11):
3549 - 3562.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
C. Yang, G. Vizcay-Barrena, K. Conner, and Z. A. Wilson
MALE STERILITY1 Is Required for Tapetal Development and Pollen Wall Biosynthesis
PLANT CELL,
November 1, 2007;
19(11):
3530 - 3548.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
N. Li, D.-S. Zhang, H.-S. Liu, C.-S. Yin, X.-x. Li, W.-q. Liang, Z. Yuan, B. Xu, H.-W. Chu, J. Wang, et al.
The Rice Tapetum Degeneration Retardation Gene Is Required for Tapetum Degradation and Anther Development
PLANT CELL,
November 1, 2006;
18(11):
2999 - 3014.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|
© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2006