SNAIL1 is essential for female gametogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana^FA

• Published in: 植物学报：英文版 2017, Vol.59 (9), p.629-641
• Main Author: Lihong Hao Xiaolin Wei Jiulei Zhu Jiao Shi Jingjing Liu Hongya Gu Tomohiko Tsuge Li-Jia Qu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 序列同源性; 拟南芥; 核糖体; 植物发育; 细胞存活; 花粉管生长; 蛋白合成; 雌配子体发育
• ISSN: 1672-9072; 1744-7909

Two yeast Brix family members Ssfl and Ssf2, involved in large ribosomal subunit synthesis, are essential for yeast cell viability and mating efficiency. Their putative homologs exist in the Arabidopsis genome; however, their role in plant development is unknown. Here, we show that Arabidopsis thaliana SNAIL1 （AtSNAIL1）, a protein sharing high sequence identity with yeast Ssfl and Ssf2, is critical to mitosis progression of female gametophyte development. The snail1 homozygous mutant was nonviable and its heterozygous mutant was semi-sterile with shorter siliques. The mutation in SNAIL1 led to absence of female transmission and reduced male transmission. Further phenotypic analysis showed that the synchronic development of female gametophyte in the snail1 heterozygous mutant was greatly impaired and the snaih pollen tube growth, in vivo, was also compromised. Furthermore, SNAIL1 was a nucleolar- localized protein with a putative role in protein synthesis. Our data suggest that SNAIL1 may function in ribosome biogenesis like Ssf1 and Ssf2 and plays an important role during megagametogenesis in Arabidopsis.