Reference "The Rice Tapetum Degeneration Retardation Gene Is Required for Tapetum Degradation and Anther Development"

Reference ID

11441

Title

The Rice Tapetum Degeneration Retardation Gene Is Required for Tapetum Degradation and Anther Development

Source

The Plant cell, 2006, vol. , pp. -

Authors (15)

Li-N	Zhang-D-S	Liu-H-S	Yin-C-S
Li-X-X	Liang-W-Q	Yuan-Z	Xu-B
Chu-H-W	Wang-J	Wen-T-Q	Huang-H
Luo-D	Ma-H	Zhang-D-B

Abstract

In flowering plants, tapetum degeneration is proposed to be triggered by a
programmed cell death (PCD) process during late stages of pollen development;
the PCD is thought to provide cellular contents supporting pollen wall formation
and to allow the subsequent pollen release. However, the molecular basis
regulating tapetum PCD in plants remains poorly understood. We report the
isolation and characterization of a rice (Oryza sativa) male sterile mutant
tapetum degeneration retardation (tdr), which exhibits degeneration retardation
of the tapetum and middle layer as well as collapse of microspores. The TDR gene
is preferentially expressed in the tapetum and encodes a putative basic helix-loop-
helix protein, which is likely localized to the nucleus. More importantly, two
genes, Os CP1 and Os c6, encoding a Cys protease and a protease inhibitor,
respectively, were shown to be the likely direct targets of TDR through
chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses and the electrophoretic mobility shift
assay. These results indicate that TDR is a key component of the molecular
network regulating rice tapetum development and degeneration.