Cold Influences Male Reproductive Development in Plants: A Hazard to Fertility, but a Window for Evolution

Being sessile organisms, plants suffer from various abiotic stresses including low temperature. In particular, male reproductive development of plants is extremely sensitive to cold which may dramatically reduce viable pollen shed and plant fertility. Cold stress disrupts stamen development and prominently interferes with the tapetum, with the stress-responsive hormones ABA and gibberellic acid being greatly involved. In particular, low temperature stress delays and/or inhibits programmed cell death of the tapetal cells which consequently damages pollen development and causes male sterility. On the other hand, studies in Arabidopsis and crops have revealed that ectopically decreased temperature has an impact on recombination and cytokinesis during meiotic cell division, implying a putative role for temperature in manipulating plant genomic diversity and architecture during the evolution of plants. Here, we review the current understanding of the physiological impact of cold stress on the main male reproductive development processes including tapetum development, male meiosis and gametogenesis. Moreover, we provide insights into the genetic factors and signaling pathways that are involved, with putative mechanisms being discussed.