Holistic insights from pollen omics: co-opting stress-responsive genes and ER-mediated proteostasis for male fertility.

ABSTRACT: Sexual reproduction in flowering plants takes place without an aqueous environment. Sperm are carried by pollen through air to reach the female gametophyte, though the molecular basis underlying the protective strategy of the male gametophyte is poorly understood. Here we compared the published transcriptomes of Arabidopsis thaliana pollen, and of heat-responsive genes, and uncovered insights into how mature pollen (MP) tolerates desiccation, while developing and germinating pollen are vulnerable to heat stress. Germinating pollen expresses molecular chaperones or "heat shock proteins" in the absence of heat stress. Furthermore, pollen tubes that grew through pistils at basal temperature showed induction of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress response, which is a characteristic of stress

SUBMITTER: Sze H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8644640 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature