Characterization of a rice pollen-specific gene and its expression

• Published in: American journal of botany 1994-05, Vol.81 (5), p.552-561
• Main Authors: Zou, J.T, Zhan, X.Y, Wu, H.M, Wang, H, Cheung, A.Y
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Amino acids; Biological and medical sciences; Botany; Corn; DNA; ETAPAS DE DESARROLLO DE LA PLANTA; EXPRESION GENICA; EXPRESSION DES GENES; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GENE; GENES; GENETICA; GENETIQUE; Introns; ORYZA SATIVA; Plant physiology and development; Plants; POLEN; POLLEN; Proteins; Reproductive Biology; Rice; RNA; SECUENCIA NUCLEICA; SEQUENCE NUCLEIQUE; Sexual reproduction; STADE DE DEVELOPPEMENT VEGETAL; TECHNIQUE ANALYTIQUE; TECNICAS ANALITICAS; Vegetative and sexual reproduction, floral biology, fructification
• ISSN: 0002-9122; 1537-2197
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1994.tb15484.x

Pollen development requires a large number of genes expressed in both sporophytic and gametophytic tissues. We have isolated a pollen-specific gene, PS1, from rice. PS1 is a unique gene in the rice genome and encodes a 164 amino acid long protein. RNA blot analysis shows that PS1 mRNAs accumulate specifically in rice anthers. When introduced into rice tissues by microprojectile bombardment, the PS1 promoter drives expression of a marker gene, beta-glucuronidase, specifically in rice pollen. The PS1 gene and the deduced amino acid sequence of the PS1 protein share significant levels of homology with another monocot pollen-specific gene--the maize Zm-13 gene and its deduced protein, respectively. PS1 also shows some homology with the dicot tomato anther-specific gene LAT-52. Interestingly, the structure of the PS1 gene is more similar to that of the LA T-52 gene than to Zm-13. The coding regions of both PS1 and LA T-52 are interrupted by a single intron, and the positions of the introns are conserved in these genes. Moreover, there is considerable sequence homology in the introns of the PS1 and LAT-52 genes in regions immediately upstream of the 3' splice sites. The upstream regulatory sequences of the PS1 gene show several regions of homology with other pollen- or anther-specific genes from a number of plant species. The conservation of coding sequences of PS1 from rice, Zm-13 from maize, and LAT-52 from tomato suggests a functional conservation of their gene products. Similarities in the regulatory regions of PS1 and other anther- or pollen-specific genes among monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous species indicate that at least some regulatory features controlling gene expression in male reproductive tissues are conserved. This is supported by the preservation of pollen-specific expression from the rice PS1 promoter when it is introduced into tobacco plants by Agrobacterium Ti plasmid-mediated transformation