Comparative expression profiling reveals gene functions in female meiosis and gametophyte development in Arabidopsis. (30th September 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhao, Lihua; He, Jiangman; Cai, Hanyang; Lin, Haiyan; Li, Yanqiang; Liu, Renyi; Yang, Zhenbiao; Qin, Yuan
• Is Part Of: Plant journal. Volume 80:Number 4(2014:Nov.)
• Page Start: 615
• Page End: 628
• Publication Date: 2014-09-30
• Subjects: Plant molecular biology -- Periodicals; Plant cells and tissues -- Periodicals; Botany -- Periodicals; 580
• DOI: 10.1111/tpj.12657
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-7412

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="tpj12657-abs-0001"> <title>Summary</title> <p>Megasporogenesis is essential for female fertility, and requires the accomplishment of meiosis and the formation of functional megaspores. The inaccessibility and low abundance of female meiocytes make it particularly difficult to elucidate the molecular basis underlying megasporogenesis. We used high‐throughput tag‐sequencing analysis to identify genes expressed in female meiocytes (<italic>FM</italic>s) by comparing gene expression profiles from wild‐type ovules undergoing megasporogenesis with those from the <italic>spl</italic> mutant ovules, which lack megasporogenesis. A total of 862 genes were identified as <italic>FM</italic>s, with levels that are consistently reduced in <italic>spl</italic> ovules in two biological replicates. Fluorescence‐assisted cell sorting followed by RNA‐seq analysis of <italic>DMC1:GFP</italic>‐labeled female meiocytes confirmed that 90% of the <italic>FM</italic>s are indeed detected in the female meiocyte protoplast profiling. We performed reverse genetic analysis of 120 candidate genes and identified four <italic>FM</italic> genes with a function in female meiosis progression in Arabidopsis. We further revealed that <italic>KLU</italic>, a putative cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, is involved in chromosome pairing during female meiosis, most likely by affecting the normal expression pattern of <italic>DMC1</italic> in ovules during female meiosis. Our studies provide valuable information for functional genomic analyses of plant germline development as well as insights into meiosis.</p> </abstract>