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Class B β-expansins are needed for pollen separation and stigma penetration

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Abstract

Group 1 grass pollen allergens comprise a distinctive clade within the β-expansin family of cell wall-loosening proteins and are divided by sequence divergence into two phylogenetically separable classes (A and B). They have been proposed to loosen the walls of the stigma and style. Supporting this idea, we recently showed that a transposon insertion in one of the maize group-1 allergen genes reduces the ability of pollen to effect fertilization under conditions of pollen competition. In this work, we provide additional information on the phenotype of this mutant, showing that pollen deficient in β-expansin gene expression tended to form large aggregates, leading to poor pollen dispersal on anther dehiscence, and that emerging pollen tubes had difficulties entering the silk. In addition, a silencing construct was created to reduce expression of all the class B genes with results that are consistent with those seen with the transposon insertional line, including reduced transgene transmission through the pollen. Our results provide a more detailed understanding of the role of group 1 allergens (pollen β-expansins) in maize pollen development, pollen dispersal, pollen tube penetration into the style, and pollen tube growth through the transmitting tract.

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Acknowledgments

We thank: T. Omeis for the use of the Buckhout Greenhouse; R. Oberheim and the Department of Horticulture for use of the Agricultural Experimental Station at Rock Springs, PA; Dr. R. Meeley from Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. for the original transposon insertion lines; Dr. K. Wang of the Plant Transformation Facility at Iowa State University for assistance in maize transformation; Dr. P. Bhalla for the ory S1 promoter; Drs S. Chopra, D. Braun and P. McSteen for field space, helpful discussions and guidance; Dr. D. Grove for design of the primers and probes and for running the RT-PCR assays at the Nucleic Acid Facility (Huck Institute, Pennsylvania State University); and J. Sampedro, E. Wagner, T. Kinney, N. Sella Kapu and J. Mena-Ali for assistance in the field, greenhouse and laboratory. This project was made possible, in part, through the use of technology developed by Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. This research was supported by NIH grant GM060397 and DOE grant DE-FG02-84ER13179 to D. J. C.; by NSF grant DEB 02-35217 and USDA grant 2005-35320-15251 to A. G. S.; and E. R. V. was supported in part by an NSF Graduate Research Training grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, 208 Mueller Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Elene R. Valdivia, Andrew G. Stephenson, Daniel M. Durachko & Daniel Cosgrove

  2. Intercollege Program in Plant Physiology, 208 Mueller Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Elene R. Valdivia, Andrew G. Stephenson & Daniel Cosgrove

  3. Departamento de Fisiología Vegetal, CIBUS, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Campus Sur, 15782, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Elene R. Valdivia

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  1. Elene R. Valdivia
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  4. Daniel Cosgrove
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Correspondence to Elene R. Valdivia.

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Communicated by Scott Russell.

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Valdivia, E.R., Stephenson, A.G., Durachko, D.M. et al. Class B β-expansins are needed for pollen separation and stigma penetration. Sex Plant Reprod 22, 141–152 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-009-0099-y

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