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The role of Somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinase 1 in controlling pollen production of the Gossypium anther

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Abstract

In flowering plants, male gametophytes are generated in anthers from microsporocytes. However, more evidence is needed to reveal the genetic mechanisms which regulate the differentiation and interaction of these highly specialized cells in anthers. Here we report the characterization of a series of male-sterile cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) mutants, including mutants with normal fertility, semi-sterility and complete sterility. These mutants are forms of transgenic cotton containing RNAi vectors with partial cDNA fragments of GhSERK1. The GhSERK1 gene encodes a putative leucine-rich repeat receptor protein kinase (LRR-RLK), and generally has 11 domains. In previous research, we found plants containing GhSERK1 produce an abundance of male reproductive tissue. In this paper, three RNAi constructs were designed separately to analyze its function in anther. After the three RNAi vectors were transformed into the cotton, transgenic plants with the specialized fragment exhibited normal fertility or the pollen energy decreased slightly, as ones with the homologous fragments exhibited various degrees of male sterility with different expression levels of GhSERK1 mRNA. In conclusion, for the transgenic plants with conserved fragments, lower expression levels of GhSERK1 mRNA were in transgenic plants, and a higher degree of male sterility was observed. Taking together, these findings demonstrate the GhSERK1 gene has a role in the development of anthers, especially in the formation of pollen grains. Also, we infer there must be another homolog of GhSERK1 in cotton, and both of GhSERK1 and its homolog function redundantly as important control points in controlling anther pollen production.

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Abbreviations

LRR-RLK:

Leucine-rich repeat receptor protein kinase

SERK:

Somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinases

EMS1:

Excess microsporocytes1

EXS:

Extra sporogenous cells

TPD1:

Tapetum determinant1

BAM1/2:

Barely any meristem1/2

RPK2:

Receptor-like protein kinase1

SPP:

Ser-Pro-Pro motif

TM domain:

Transmembrane domain

Nt:

Nucleotide

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Research Initiative of Development of Transgenic Cotton Plants funded by Ministry of Agriculture of the People’s Republic of China (2008ZX08005-004).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Ya-li Shi, San-dui Guo, Rui Zhang, Zhi-gang Meng & Mao-zhi Ren

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  1. Ya-li Shi
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  2. San-dui Guo
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  3. Rui Zhang
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  4. Zhi-gang Meng
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  5. Mao-zhi Ren
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Correspondence to San-dui Guo.

Additional information

Ya-li Shi and San-dui Guo contributed equally to this study.

Electronic supplementary material

Supplementary Fig. 1 Sequence Alignment of SERKs’ cDNAs, corresponding to the SPP domain and TM domain. The 834-bp-long genomic fragment of GhSERK1corresponded to its CDS sequence 600–780 bp. Its identity was very low, and the 834-bp-long genomic fragment contained two introns. So it could prove the GhSERK1 specificity of the probe used for Southern blotting. AtSERK1: gi_145337426; AtSERK2: gi_145336393; AtSERK3: gi_14573458; AtSERK4: gi_145359963; AtSERK5: gi_42569012; DcSERK: gi_2224910; MtSERK: gi_24935325; StSERK1: gi_126466787; CuSERK1: gi_50657182; OsSERK: gi_40253582; PpSERK1: gi_52626612; PpSERK2: gi_52626610; ZmSERK1: gi_13897317; ZmSERK3: gi_13897321; GhSERK1: HQ621831 (425–2,308 bp)

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Shi, Yl., Guo, Sd., Zhang, R. et al. The role of Somatic embryogenesis receptor-like kinase 1 in controlling pollen production of the Gossypium anther. Mol Biol Rep 41, 411–422 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-013-2875-x

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