Project description:Background – In flowering plants, the anther is the site of male gametophyte development. Two major events in the development of the male germline are meiosis and the asymmetric division in the male gametophyte that gives rise to the vegetative and generative cells, and the following mitotic division in the generative cell that produces two sperm cells. Anther transcriptomes have been analyzed at progressive stages of development by using microarray and sequence by synthesis technologies to identify genes that regulate anther development. Here we have carried out a comprehensive analysis of rice anther transcriptomes at four distinct stages of development with a focus to identify regulatory components contributing to male meiosis and germline development. Further, these transcriptomes have been compared with transcriptomes of 10 stages of rice vegetative and seed development to identify genes that express specifically during anther development. Results - To understand the molecular processes that lead to male gametophyte development, transcriptome profiling of four stages of anther development in rice [pre-meiotic (PMA), meiotic (MA), anthers at single-celled (SCP) and tri-nucleate pollen (TPA)] was conducted. Around 22,000 genes were found to be expressed in at least one of the anther developmental stages, with the highest number in MA (18,090) and lowest (15,465) in TPA. Comparison of these transcriptome profiles to an in-house generated microarray-based transcriptomics database comprising of 10 stages/tissues of vegetative as well as reproductive development in rice resulted in the identification of 1,000 genes that are specifically expressed in anther stages. Of them the expression of 453 genes was found to be specific to TPA, whereas 78 and 184 genes were expressed specifically in MA and SCP. Gene ontology and pathway analysis of specifically expressed genes revealed that transcription factors and protein folding, sorting and degradation pathway genes dominated in MA, whereas in TPA, those coding for cell structure and signal transduction components were in abundance. Interestingly, about 50% of the genes with anther-specific expression have not been annotated so far. Conclusions - These data not only provide the transcriptome constituents of four landmark stages of anther development but also identify genes that express exclusively in these stages and therefore may contribute to specific aspects of anther and/or male gametophyte development in rice. Moreover, these gene sets assist in building a deeper understanding of underlying regulatory networks and in selecting candidates for gene function validation.
Project description:Background – In flowering plants, the anther is the site of male gametophyte development. Two major events in the development of the male germline are meiosis and the asymmetric division in the male gametophyte that gives rise to the vegetative and generative cells, and the following mitotic division in the generative cell that produces two sperm cells. Anther transcriptomes have been analyzed at progressive stages of development by using microarray and sequence by synthesis technologies to identify genes that regulate anther development. Here we have carried out a comprehensive analysis of rice anther transcriptomes at four distinct stages of development with a focus to identify regulatory components contributing to male meiosis and germline development. Further, these transcriptomes have been compared with transcriptomes of 10 stages of rice vegetative and seed development to identify genes that express specifically during anther development. Results - To understand the molecular processes that lead to male gametophyte development, transcriptome profiling of four stages of anther development in rice [pre-meiotic (PMA), meiotic (MA), anthers at single-celled (SCP) and tri-nucleate pollen (TPA)] was conducted. Around 22,000 genes were found to be expressed in at least one of the anther developmental stages, with the highest number in MA (18,090) and lowest (15,465) in TPA. Comparison of these transcriptome profiles to an in-house generated microarray-based transcriptomics database comprising of 10 stages/tissues of vegetative as well as reproductive development in rice resulted in the identification of 1,000 genes that are specifically expressed in anther stages. Of them the expression of 453 genes was found to be specific to TPA, whereas 78 and 184 genes were expressed specifically in MA and SCP. Gene ontology and pathway analysis of specifically expressed genes revealed that transcription factors and protein folding, sorting and degradation pathway genes dominated in MA, whereas in TPA, those coding for cell structure and signal transduction components were in abundance. Interestingly, about 50% of the genes with anther-specific expression have not been annotated so far. Conclusions - These data not only provide the transcriptome constituents of four landmark stages of anther development but also identify genes that express exclusively in these stages and therefore may contribute to specific aspects of anther and/or male gametophyte development in rice. Moreover, these gene sets assist in building a deeper understanding of underlying regulatory networks and in selecting candidates for gene function validation. Overall twelve samples were analyzed representing four anther development stages, with three replicates of each stage.
Project description:In flowering plants, the male gametophyte, the pollen, develops in the anther. Complex patterns of gene expression in both the gametophytic and sporophytic tissues of the anther regulate this process. The gene expression profiles of the microspore/pollen and the sporophytic tapetum are of particular interest. In this study, a microarray technique combined with laser microdissection (44K LM-microarray) was developed and used to characterize separately the transcriptomes of the microspore/pollen and tapetum in rice. Expression profiles of 11 known tapetum specific-genes were consistent with previous reports. Based on the spatiotemporal expression patterns and gene ontology (GO) categories of anther-expressed genes, some noteworthy expression patterns are discussed in connection with various important biological events of anther development. The separated transcriptomes of rice microspore/pollen and tapetum were measured at the premeiosis, meiosis, tetrad, uninuclear, bicellular, and tricelluar stages by using laser microdissection (LM)-mediated microarray.
Project description:In flowering plants, the male gametophyte, the pollen, develops in the anther. Complex patterns of gene expression in both the gametophytic and sporophytic tissues of the anther regulate this process. The gene expression profiles of the microspore/pollen and the sporophytic tapetum are of particular interest. In this study, a microarray technique combined with laser microdissection (44K LM-microarray) was developed and used to characterize separately the transcriptomes of the microspore/pollen and tapetum in rice. Expression profiles of 11 known tapetum specific-genes were consistent with previous reports. Based on the spatiotemporal expression patterns and gene ontology (GO) categories of anther-expressed genes, some noteworthy expression patterns are discussed in connection with various important biological events of anther development.
Project description:Protein lysine acetylation (KAC) is a dynamic and reversible post-translational modification, playing important biological roles in many organisms.Here, we reported results from a proteomic investigation to detect KAC status of the developing rice anthers near the time of meiosis (RAM), providing strong biochemical evidence for roles of many KAC-affected proteins during rice anther development and meiosis. We identified a total of 1,354 KAC sites in 676 proteins.
Project description:Anther development, particularly around the time of meiosis, is extremely crucial for plant sexual reproduction. Meanwhile, cell-to-cell communication between somatic (especial tapetum) cells and meiocytes are important for both somatic anther development and meiosis. To investigate possible molecular mechanisms involved in protein activities during anther development, we applied high-resolution mass spectrometry-based proteomic and phosphoproteomic analyses for developing rice (Oryza sativa) anthers around the time of meiosis (RAM). In total, we identified 4,984 proteins and 3,203 phosphoproteins with 8,973 unique phosphorylation sites (p-sites). Among those detected here, 1,544 phosphoproteins are currently absent in the Plant Protein Phosphorylation DataBase (P3DB), substantially enriching plant phosphorylation information. Mapman enrichment analysis showed that “DNA repair”, “transcription regulation” and “signalling” related proteins were over-represented in the phosphorylated proteins. Ten genetically identified rice meiotic proteins were detected to be phosphorylated at a total of 25 p-sites; moreover more than 400 meiotically expressed proteins were revealed to be phosphorylated and their phosphorylation sites were precisely assigned. 163 putative secretory proteins, possibly functioning in cell-to-cell communication, are also phosphorylated. Furthermore, we showed that DNA synthesis, RNA splicing and RNA-directed DNA methylation pathways are extensively affected by phosphorylation. In addition, our data support forty-six kinase-substrate pairs predicted by the rice Kinase-Protein Interaction Map, with SnRK1 substrates highly enriched. Taken together, our data revealed extensive protein phosphorylation during anther development, suggesting an important post-translational modification mechanism for protein activity.