Elsevier

Developmental Biology

Volume 419, Issue 1, 1 November 2016, Pages 26-40
Developmental Biology

A framework for evaluating developmental defects at the cellular level: An example from ten maize anther mutants using morphological and molecular data

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.03.016Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Highlights

  • Each somatic cell type is essential for successful completion of meiosis.

  • Morphometric analysis defines aberrations of early defects in male-sterile mutants.

  • Many defects begin during patterning of the middle and tapetal cell layers.

  • Quantitative and molecular data more precisely determine phenotype timing.

  • Pre-meiotic, somatic defects include both periclinal and anticlinal division errors.

Abstract

In seed plants, anthers are critical for sexual reproduction, because they foster both meiosis and subsequent pollen development of male germinal cells. Male-sterile mutants are analyzed to define steps in anther development. Historically the major topics in these studies are meiotic arrest and post-meiotic gametophyte failure, while relatively few studies focus on pre-meiotic defects of anther somatic cells. Utilizing morphometric analysis we demonstrate that pre-meiotic mutants can be impaired in anticlinal or periclinal cell division patterns and that final cell number in the pre-meiotic anther lobe is independent of cell number changes of individual differentiated somatic cell types. Data derived from microarrays and from cell wall NMR analyses allow us to further refine our understanding of the onset of phenotypes. Collectively the data highlight that even minor deviations from the correct spatiotemporal pattern of somatic cell proliferation can result in male sterility in Zea mays.

Keywords

Anther development
Male sterility
Periclinal division
Somatic cell fate

Cited by (0)