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Plant Physiol, June 2002, Vol. 129, pp. 865-875
Genetic Control of Male Germ Unit Organization in
Arabidopsis1
Eric
Lalanne and
David
Twell*
Department of Biology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH
United Kingdom
In flowering plants, the vegetative nucleus and the two
sperm cells are proposed to form a functional assemblage, the male germ
unit (MGU). Here, we describe the developmental pathway of MGU assembly
in Arabidopsis and report two classes of mutations that affect the
integrity and/or the positioning of the MGU in the mature pollen grain.
In germ unit malformed (gum) mutants, the vegetative
nucleus is positioned adjacent to the pollen grain wall, separate from
the two sperm cells, whereas in MGU displaced (mud)
mutants, the intact MGU is displaced to the pollen grain wall.
mud and gum mutants correspond to
male-specific gametophytic mutations that also reduce pollen fitness.
Genetic mapping showed that the gum1 and
gum2 mutations are genetically linked, possibly allelic,
whereas the mud1 and mud2 mutations
correspond to two unlinked loci mapping on different chromosomes. The
hierarchical relationship between mud and
gum mutations was investigated by phenotypic analysis of
double mutants. gum1 appeared to act earlier than
mud1 and mud2, affecting initial MGU
assembly and its stability during pollen maturation. In contrast,
mud1 and mud2 mutations appear to act
only on MGU positioning during final maturation. From in planta
analyses of pollen germination in mud and
gum mutants, we conclude that the initial proximity and
positioning of MGU components is not required for their entrance into
the pollen tube, but the efficiency of MGU translocation is reduced.
1
E.L. was funded by a Marie Curie Research
Fellowship (no. ERBFMBICT972310) under the European Economic Community
Training and Mobility of Researchers program. The initial
screening work was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Science
Research Council (research grant no. CAD04305 to D.T.) under the Cell
Commitment and Determination Initiative.
*
Corresponding author; e-mail twe{at}le.ac.uk; fax 44-116-252-2791.
© 2002 American Society of Plant Physiologists
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