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Abstract
BackgroundMale sterility is a common phenomenon in flowering plant species, and it has been successfully developed in several crops by taking advantage of heterosis. Using space mutation breeding of upland cotton, a novel photosensitive genetic male sterile (PGMS) mutant was isolated. To take advantage of the PGMS lines in cotton hybrid breeding, it is of great importance to study the molecular mechanisms of its male sterility.ResultsDelayed degradation of the PGMS anther tapetum occurred at different developmental stages as shown by analysis of anther cross-sections. To gain detailed insights into the cellular defects that occurred during PGMS pollen development, we used a differential proteomic approach to investigate the protein profiles of mutant and wild-type anthers at the tetrad, uninucleate and binucleate pollen stages. This approach identified 62 differentially expressed protein spots, including 19 associated with energy and metabolic pathways, 7 involved with pollen tube growth, 5 involved with protein metabolism, and 4 involved with pollen wall development. The remaining 27 protein spots were classified into other functional processes, such as protein folding and assembly (5 spots), and stress defense (4 spots). These differentially expressed proteins strikingly affected pollen development in the PGMS mutant anther and resulted in abnormal pollen grain formation, which may be the key reason for its male sterility.ConclusionsThis work represents the first study using comparative proteomics between fertile and PGMS cotton plants to identify PGMS-related proteins. The results demonstrate the presence of a complicated metabolic network in anther development and advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of microgamete formation, providing insights into the molecular mechanisms of male sterility.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12870-014-0390-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Male sterility is a common phenomenon in flowering plant species, and it has been successfully developed in several crops by taking advantage of heterosis
Sixty-two differently expressed protein spots were successfully identified. Based on their annotated biological and cellular functions, the 56 differentially expressed proteins could participate in a range of processes during pollen development, including energy and metabolic pathways, pollen wall development, protein metabolic, pollen tube growth, and other functional proteins. These results may help us to clarify the mechanism of male sterility in photosensitive genetic male sterile (PGMS) mutant
Two proteins in energy generation were significantly reduced in MT anthers, suggesting that the MT anthers were in an energy starved state. These results suggest that the disordered gene expression in carbohydrate metabolism and energy germination resulted in reduced accumulation of total sugars, a lack of starch and other substances synthesis in the MT pollen grains, providing critical information augmenting our understanding of male sterility
Summary
Male sterility is a common phenomenon in flowering plant species, and it has been successfully developed in several crops by taking advantage of heterosis. To take advantage of the PGMS lines in cotton hybrid breeding, it is of great importance to study the molecular mechanisms of its male sterility. CMS is a maternally inherited trait, characterized by a mitochondrial energy deficiency, CMS protein cytotoxicity and premature tapetal programmed cell death (PCD) [3]. Wild Abortive CMS (CMSWA), a well-studied CMS line, has been exploited to produce the majority of “threeline” rice hybrids since the 1970s in China [5]. WA352 accumulates preferentially in the tapetum of the anther, thereby inhibiting COX11 function in peroxide metabolism, triggering premature tapetal PCD and consequent pollen abortion [3]
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