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Published on: July 16, 2019
Abnormal development of tapetum and microspores induced by chemical hybridization agent SQ-1 in wheat
Shuping Wang1, Gaisheng Zhang1, Qilu Song1
1College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, National Yangling Agricultural Biotechnology & Breeding Center, Yangling Branch of State Wheat Improvement Centre, Wheat Breeding Engineering Research Center, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Crop Heterosis of Shaanxi Province, Yangling, China.
Abstract:
Chemical hybridization agent (CHA)-induced male sterility is an important tool in crop heterosis. To demonstrate that CHA-SQ-1-induced male sterility is associated with abnormal tapetal and microspore development, the cytology of CHA-SQ-1-treated plant anthers at various developmental stages was studied by light microscopy, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferasemediated dUTP nick end-labelling (TUNEL) assay and DAPI staining. The results indicated that the SQ-1-treated plants underwent premature tapetal programmed cell death (PCD), which was initiated at the early-uninucleate stage of microspore development and continued until the tapetal cells were completely degraded; the process of microspore development was then blocked. Microspores with low-viability (fluorescein diacetate staining) were aborted. The study suggests that premature tapetal PCD is the main cause of pollen abortion. Furthermore, it determines the starting period and a key factor in CHA-SQ-1-induced male sterility at the cell level, and provides cytological evidence to further study the mechanism between PCD and male sterility.
