Abstract

An Arabidopsis pollen grain (male gametophyte) consists of three cells: the vegetative cell, which forms the pollen tube, and two sperm cells enclosed within the vegetative cell. It is still unclear if there is intercellular communication between the vegetative cell and the sperm cells. Here we show that ABA-hypersensitive germination3 (AHG3), encoding a protein phosphatase, is specifically transcribed in the vegetative cell but predominantly translated in sperm cells. We used a series of deletion constructs and promoter exchanges to document transport of AHG3 transcripts from the vegetative cell to sperm and showed that their transport requires sequences in both the 5' UTR and the coding region. Thus, in addition its known role in transporting sperm during pollen tube growth, the vegetative cell also contributes transcripts to the sperm cells.

Keywords

pollen; sperm; mRNA transport; protein phosphatase 2C; vegetative nucleus

Published in

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
2015, Volume: 112, number: 43, pages: 13378-13383
Publisher: NATL ACAD SCIENCES

SLU Authors

• Jiang, Hua

  • Department of Plant Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  • University of California Berkeley

• Yi, Jun

  • Department of Plant Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  • University of California Berkeley

• Köhler, Claudia

  • Department of Plant Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Developmental Biology
Botany


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510854112

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/72359