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Rapid initiation of Arabidopsis pollination requires the oleosin-domain protein GRP17

Nature Cell Biology volume 2, pages 128–130 (2000)Cite this article

The A. thaliana pollen coating contains a small number of proteins (Fig. 1a). The most abundant migrated at a relative molecular mass of 49,000 (Mr 49K) and comprised 21% of the total coat protein. Microsequencing of carboxy-terminal and internal peptides derived from this band unambiguously identified GRP17, a protein previously discovered in a search for glycine-rich proteins5. Polymorphisms associated with the GRP17 DNA sequence or mobility of the GRP17 protein mapped to the same interval on chromosome 5. Further, GRP17 expression is male-specific, consistent with a localization in the pollen coat5. GRP17 has a conserved oleosin domain and a highly divergent charged domain. Seed-localized oleosins regulate oil-body size and prevent lipid aggregation during seed development6; the ability of oleosins to govern lipid properties makes them intriguing candidates for the regulation of pollen hydration.

We identified a plant containing a T-DNA element in the GRP17 gene; this lesion (grp17-1) resulted in the removal of amino acids 146–150 and inserted a premature stop codon. This heterozygous plant, of the Wassilewskija (Ws-2) ecotype, was morphologically normal and fully fertile. Progeny from this plant segregated kanamycin resistance, conferred by the T-DNA cassette, in a 3:1 ratio (815 non-resistant:2,358 kanamycin-resistant; χ2: 0.5>P>0.1). Self-pollinated heterozygotes produced healthy offspring in the expected mendelian ratios (14 +/+:29 +/–:12 –/–; χ2: 0.9>P>0.5).

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Figure 1: Characterization of the GRP17 protein in wild-type and grp17-1 pollen coatings.
Figure 2: Characteristics of grp17-1 pollen.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Fiebig, J. Greenberg, K. Keith and J. Mach for critical reading of the manuscript and G. Zinkl for help with electron microscopy. This project was supported by grants to D.P. from the NSF and the Searle Scholars Program; work at the Michigan State University Mass Spectrometry Facility was supported by the NIH (grant DRR-00480).

Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to D.P.

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  1. Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, 60637 , Illinois, USA

    Jacob A. Mayfield & Daphne Preuss

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  1. Jacob A. Mayfield
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Correspondence to Daphne Preuss.

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Mayfield, J., Preuss, D. Rapid initiation of Arabidopsis pollination requires the oleosin-domain protein GRP17. Nat Cell Biol 2, 128–130 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35000084

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