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Zhong S, Zhao P, Peng X, Li HJ, Duan Q, Cheung AY. From gametes to zygote: Mechanistic advances and emerging possibilities in plant reproduction. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2024; 195:4-35. [PMID: 38431529 PMCID: PMC11060694 DOI: 10.1093/plphys/kiae125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Zhong
- State Key Laboratory for Protein and Plant Gene Research, Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Peng Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Xiongbo Peng
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Hong-Ju Li
- Key Laboratory of Seed Innovation, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Center for Molecular Agrobiology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Qiaohong Duan
- College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai’an, Shandong 271018, China
| | - Alice Y Cheung
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology Program, Plant Biology Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
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Long X, Yang W, Lv Y, Zhong X, Chen L, Li Q, Lv Z, Li Y, Cai Y, Yang H. The Histone Variant H3.3 Is Required for Plant Growth and Fertility in Arabidopsis. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:2549. [PMID: 38473796 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25052549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Histones are the core components of the eukaryote chromosome, and have been implicated in transcriptional gene regulation. There are three major isoforms of histone H3 in Arabidopsis. Studies have shown that the H3.3 variant is pivotal in modulating nucleosome structure and gene transcription. However, the function of H3.3 during development remains to be further investigated in plants. In this study, we disrupted all three H3.3 genes in Arabidopsis. Two triple mutants, h3.3cr-4 and h3.3cr-5, were created by the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The mutant plants displayed smaller rosettes and decreased fertility. The stunted growth of h3.3cr-4 may result from reduced expression of cell cycle regulators. The shorter stamen filaments, but not the fertile ability of the gametophytes, resulted in reduced fertility of h3.3cr-4. The transcriptome analysis suggested that the reduced filament elongation of h3.3cr-4 was probably caused by the ectopic expression of several JASMONATE-ZIM DOMAIN (JAZ) genes, which are the key repressors of the signaling pathway of the phytohormone jasmonic acid (JA). These observations suggest that the histone variant H3.3 promotes plant growth, including rosette growth and filament elongation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaogang Long
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Wandong Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Yanfang Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Xiaoming Zhong
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Lin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Qingzhu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Zhaopeng Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Yanzhuo Li
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Yajun Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Hongchun Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Hybrid Rice, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
- Hubei Hongshan Laboratory, Wuhan 430070, China
- RNA Institute, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
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Zhao W, Hou Q, Qi Y, Wu S, Wan X. Structural and molecular basis of pollen germination. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY : PPB 2023; 203:108042. [PMID: 37738868 DOI: 10.1016/j.plaphy.2023.108042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2023] [Revised: 08/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023]
Abstract
Pollen germination is a prerequisite for double fertilization of flowering plants. A comprehensive understanding of the structural and molecular basis of pollen germination holds great potential for crop yield improvement. The pollen aperture serves as the foundation for most plant pollen germination and pollen aperture formation involves the establishment of cellular polarity, the formation of distinct membrane domains, and the precise deposition of extracellular substances. Successful pollen germination requires precise material exchange and signal transduction between the pollen grain and the stigma. Recent cytological and mutant analysis of pollen germination process in Arabidopsis and rice has expanded our understanding of this biological process. However, the overall changes in germination site structure and energy-related metabolites during pollen germination remain to be further explored. This review summarizes and compares the recent advances in the processes of pollen aperture formation, pollen adhesion, hydration, and germination between eudicot Arabidopsis and monocot rice, and provides insights into the structural basis and molecular mechanisms underlying pollen germination process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Zhao
- Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Quancan Hou
- Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), Beijing, 100083, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Yuchen Qi
- Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), Beijing, 100083, China
| | - Suowei Wu
- Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), Beijing, 100083, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing, 100083, China; Beijing Engineering Laboratory of Main Crop Bio-Tech Breeding, Beijing Solidwill Sci-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing, 100192, China.
| | - Xiangyuan Wan
- Research Institute of Biology and Agriculture, Shunde Innovation School, University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB), Beijing, 100083, China; Zhongzhi International Institute of Agricultural Biosciences, Beijing, 100083, China; Beijing Engineering Laboratory of Main Crop Bio-Tech Breeding, Beijing Solidwill Sci-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing, 100192, China.
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Robinson R, Sprott D, Couroux P, Routly E, Labbé N, Xing T, Robert LS. The triticale mature pollen and stigma proteomes - assembling the proteins for a productive encounter. J Proteomics 2023; 278:104867. [PMID: 36870675 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2023.104867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Triticeae crops are major contributors to global food production and ensuring their capacity to reproduce and generate seeds is critical. However, despite their importance our knowledge of the proteins underlying Triticeae reproduction is severely lacking and this is not only true of pollen and stigma development, but also of their pivotal interaction. When the pollen grain and stigma are brought together they have each accumulated the proteins required for their intended meeting and accordingly studying their mature proteomes is bound to reveal proteins involved in their diverse and complex interactions. Using triticale as a Triticeae representative, gel-free shotgun proteomics was used to identify 11,533 and 2977 mature stigma and pollen proteins respectively. These datasets, by far the largest to date, provide unprecedented insights into the proteins participating in Triticeae pollen and stigma development and interactions. The study of the Triticeae stigma has been particularly neglected. To begin filling this knowledge gap, a developmental iTRAQ analysis was performed revealing 647 proteins displaying differential abundance as the stigma matures in preparation for pollination. An in-depth comparison to an equivalent Brassicaceae analysis divulged both conservation and diversification in the makeup and function of proteins involved in the pollen and stigma encounter. SIGNIFICANCE: Successful pollination brings together the mature pollen and stigma thus initiating an intricate series of molecular processes vital to crop reproduction. In the Triticeae crops (e.g. wheat, barley, rye, triticale) there persists a vast deficit in our knowledge of the proteins involved which needs to be addressed if we are to face the many upcoming challenges to crop production such as those associated with climate change. At maturity, both the pollen and stigma have acquired the protein complement necessary for their forthcoming encounter and investigating their proteomes will inevitably provide unprecedented insights into the proteins enabling their interactions. By combining the analysis of the most comprehensive Triticeae pollen and stigma global proteome datasets to date with developmental iTRAQ investigations, proteins implicated in the different phases of pollen-stigma interaction enabling pollen adhesion, recognition, hydration, germination and tube growth, as well as those underlying stigma development were revealed. Extensive comparisons between equivalent Triticeae and Brassiceae datasets highlighted both the conservation of biological processes in line with the shared goal of activating the pollen grain and promoting pollen tube invasion of the pistil to effect fertilization, as well as the significant distinctions in their proteomes consistent with the considerable differences in their biochemistry, physiology and morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reneé Robinson
- Ottawa Research and Development Centre, 960 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada; Carleton University, Department of Biology, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - David Sprott
- Ottawa Research and Development Centre, 960 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada
| | - Philippe Couroux
- Ottawa Research and Development Centre, 960 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada
| | - Elizabeth Routly
- Ottawa Research and Development Centre, 960 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada
| | - Natalie Labbé
- Ottawa Research and Development Centre, 960 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada
| | - Tim Xing
- Carleton University, Department of Biology, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Laurian S Robert
- Ottawa Research and Development Centre, 960 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada.
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Miller K, Strychalski W, Nickaeen M, Carlsson A, Haswell ES. In vitro experiments and kinetic models of Arabidopsis pollen hydration mechanics show that MSL8 is not a simple tension-gated osmoregulator. Curr Biol 2022; 32:2921-2934.e3. [PMID: 35660140 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.05.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Pollen, a neighbor-less cell containing the male gametes, undergoes mechanical challenges during plant sexual reproduction, including desiccation and rehydration. It was previously shown that the pollen-specific mechanosensitive ion channel MscS-like (MSL)8 is essential for pollen survival during hydration and proposed that it functions as a tension-gated osmoregulator. Here, we test this hypothesis with a combination of mathematical modeling and laboratory experiments. Time-lapse imaging revealed that wild-type pollen grains swell, and then they stabilize in volume rapidly during hydration. msl8 mutant pollen grains, however, continue to expand and eventually burst. We found that a mathematical model, wherein MSL8 acts as a simple-tension-gated osmoregulator, does not replicate this behavior. A better fit was obtained from variations of the model, wherein MSL8 inactivates independent of its membrane tension gating threshold or MSL8 strengthens the cell wall without osmotic regulation. Experimental and computational testing of several perturbations, including hydration in an osmolyte-rich solution, hyper-desiccation of the grains, and MSL8-YFP overexpression, indicated that the cell wall strengthening model best simulated experimental responses. Finally, the expression of a nonconducting MSL8 variant did not complement the msl8 overexpansion phenotype. These data indicate that contrary to our hypothesis and to the current understanding of MS ion channel function in bacteria, MSL8 does not act as a simple membrane tension-gated osmoregulator. Instead, they support a model wherein ion flux through MSL8 is required to alter pollen cell wall properties. These results demonstrate the utility of pollen as a cellular scale model system and illustrate how mathematical models can correct intuitive hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kari Miller
- Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; NSF Center for Engineering Mechanobiology, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Wanda Strychalski
- Department of Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Masoud Nickaeen
- University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT 06030, USA
| | - Anders Carlsson
- NSF Center for Engineering Mechanobiology, Cleveland, OH, USA; Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Elizabeth S Haswell
- Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; NSF Center for Engineering Mechanobiology, Cleveland, OH, USA.
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