Disruption of the bHLH transcription factor Abnormal Tapetum 1 causes male sterility in watermelon.

ABSTRACT: Although male sterility has been identified as a useful trait for hybrid vigor utilization and hybrid seed production, its underlying molecular mechanisms in Cucurbitaceae species are still largely unclear. Here, a spontaneous male-sterile watermelon mutant, Se18, was reported to have abnormal tapetum development, which resulted in completely aborted pollen grains. Map-based cloning demonstrated that the causal gene Citrullus lanatus Abnormal Tapetum 1 (ClATM1) encodes a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor with a 10-bp deletion and produces a truncated protein without the bHLH interaction and functional (BIF) domain in Se18 plants. qRT-PCR and RNA in situ hybridization showed that ClATM1 is specifically expressed in the tapetum layer and in microsporocytes during stages 6-8a

SUBMITTER: Zhang R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8632879 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature