As Arabidopsis flowers mature, specialized cells within the anthers undergo meiosis, leading to the production of haploid microspores that differentiate into mature pollen grains, each containing two sperm cells for double fertilization. During pollination, the pollen grains are dispersed from the anthers to the stigma for subsequent fertilization. Transcriptomic studies have identified a large number of genes expressed over the course of male reproductive development and subsequent functional characterization of some have revealed their involvement in floral meristem establishment, floral organ growth, sporogenesis, meiosis, microsporogenesis, and pollen maturation. These genes encode a plethora of proteins, ranging from transcriptional regulators to enzymes. This review will focus on the regulatory networks that control male reproductive development, starting from flower development and ending with anther dehiscence, with a focus on transcription factors and some of their notable target genes.

• Keywords
• anther, flower, pathways, pollen, reproductive development, transcription factors,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH

Heat stress (HS) is a major abiotic stress that negatively impacts crop yields across the globe. Plants respond to elevated temperatures by changing gene expression, mediated by transcription factors (TFs) functioning to enhance HS tolerance. The involvement of Group I bZIP TFs in the heat stress response (HSR) is not known. In this study, bZIP18 and bZIP52 were investigated for their possible role in the HSR. Localization experiments revealed their nuclear accumulation following heat stress, which was found to be triggered by dephosphorylation. Both TFs were found to possess two motifs containing serine residues that are candidates for phosphorylation. These motifs are recognized by 14-3-3 proteins, and bZIP18 and bZIP52 were found to bind 14-3-3 ε, the interaction of which sequesters them to the cytoplasm. Mutation of both residues abolished 14-3-3 ε interaction and led to a strict nuclear localization for both TFs. RNA-seq analysis revealed coordinated downregulation of several metabolic pathways including energy metabolism and translation, and upregulation of numerous lncRNAs in particular. These results support the idea that bZIP18 and bZIP52 are sequestered to the cytoplasm under control conditions, and that heat stress leads to their re-localization to nuclei, where they jointly regulate gene expression.

• Keywords
• 14–3–3, Arabidopsis, bZIP, heat stress, localization, transcriptomics,
• MeSH
• Arabidopsis genetics   growth & development   MeSH
• Cell Nucleus genetics   MeSH
• 14-3-3 Proteins genetics   MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins genetics   MeSH
• Heat-Shock Response genetics   MeSH
• Gene Expression Regulation, Plant genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Long Noncoding genetics   MeSH
• Transcription Factors genetics   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• 14-3-3 Proteins MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins MeSH
• RNA, Long Noncoding MeSH
• Transcription Factors MeSH

Callose is a plant-specific polysaccharide (β-1,3-glucan) playing an important role in angiosperms in many developmental processes and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. Callose is synthesised at the plasma membrane of plant cells by callose synthase (CalS) and, among others, represents the main polysaccharide in the callose wall surrounding the tetrads of developing microspores and in the growing pollen tube wall. CalS proteins involvement in spore development is a plesiomorphic feature of terrestrial plants, but very little is known about their evolutionary origin and relationships amongst the members of this protein family. We performed thorough comparative analyses of callose synthase family proteins from major plant lineages to determine their evolutionary history across the plant kingdom. A total of 1211 candidate CalS sequences were identified and compared amongst diverse taxonomic groups of plants, from bryophytes to angiosperms. Phylogenetic analyses identified six main clades of CalS proteins and suggested duplications during the evolution of specialised functions. Twelve family members had previously been identified in Arabidopsis thaliana. We focused on five CalS subfamilies directly linked to pollen function and found that proteins expressed in pollen evolved twice. CalS9/10 and CalS11/12 formed well-defined clades, whereas pollen-specific CalS5 was found within subfamilies that mostly did not express in mature pollen vegetative cell, although were found in sperm cells. Expression of five out of seven mature pollen-expressed CalS genes was affected by mutations in bzip transcription factors. Only three subfamilies, CalS5, CalS10, and CalS11, however, formed monophyletic, mostly conserved clades. The pairs CalS9/CalS10, CalS11/CalS12 and CalS3 may have diverged after angiosperms diversified from lycophytes and bryophytes. Our analysis of fully sequenced plant proteins identified new evolutionary lineages of callose synthase subfamilies and has established a basis for understanding their functional evolution in terrestrial plants.

• MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Glucosyltransferases genetics   MeSH
• Evolution, Molecular * MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins genetics   MeSH
• Pollen * MeSH
• Genes, Plant MeSH
• Transcription Factors genetics   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Names of Substances
• 1,3-beta-glucan synthase MeSH Browser
• Glucosyltransferases MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins MeSH
• Transcription Factors MeSH

KEY MESSAGE : bZIP TF network in pollen. Transcriptional control of gene expression represents an important mechanism guiding organisms through developmental processes and providing plasticity towards environmental stimuli. Because of their sessile nature, plants require effective gene regulation for rapid response to variation in environmental and developmental conditions. Transcription factors (TFs) provide such control ensuring correct gene expression in spatial and temporal manner. Our work reports the interaction network of six bZIP TFs expressed in Arabidopsis thaliana pollen and highlights the potential functional role for AtbZIP18 in pollen. AtbZIP18 was shown to interact with three other pollen-expressed bZIP TFs-AtbZIP34, AtbZIP52, and AtbZIP61 in yeast two-hybrid assays. AtbZIP18 transcripts are highly expressed in pollen, and at the subcellular level, an AtbZIP18-GFP fusion protein was located in the nucleus and cytoplasm/ER. To address the role of AtbZIP18 in the male gametophyte, we performed phenotypic analysis of a T-DNA knockout allele, which showed slightly reduced transmission through the male gametophyte. Some of the phenotype defects in atbzip18 pollen, although observed at low penetrance, were similar to those seen at higher frequency in the T-DNA knockout of the interacting partner, AtbZIP34. To gain deeper insight into the regulatory role of AtbZIP18, we analysed atbzip18/- pollen microarray data. Our results point towards a potential repressive role for AtbZIP18 and its functional redundancy with AtbZIP34 in pollen.

• Keywords
• Male gametophyte, Pollen development, Regulatory network, Transcription factors, Y2H, bZIP,
• MeSH
• Arabidopsis cytology   metabolism   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Dimerization MeSH
• DNA, Plant MeSH
• Mutagenesis, Insertional MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Pollen genetics   growth & development   metabolism   ultrastructure   MeSH
• Gene Expression Regulation, Plant MeSH
• Recombinant Fusion Proteins metabolism   MeSH
• Trans-Activators metabolism   MeSH
• Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors metabolism   MeSH
• Protein Binding MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• bZIP18 protein, Arabidopsis MeSH Browser
• bZIP34 protein, Arabidopsis MeSH Browser
• DNA, Plant MeSH
• Arabidopsis Proteins MeSH
• Recombinant Fusion Proteins MeSH
• Trans-Activators MeSH
• Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors MeSH

Male gametophyte development leading to the formation of a mature pollen grain is precisely controlled at various levels, including transcriptional, post-transcriptional and post-translational, during its whole progression. Transcriptomic studies exploiting genome-wide microarray technologies revealed the uniqueness of pollen transcriptome and the dynamics of early and late successive global gene expression programs. However, the knowledge of transcription regulation is still very limited. In this study, we focused on the identification of pollen-expressed transcription factor (TF) genes involved in the regulation of male gametophyte development. To achieve this, the reverse genetic approach was used. Seventy-four T-DNA insertion lines were screened, representing 49 genes of 21 TF families active in either early or late pollen development. In the screen, ten phenotype categories were distinguished, affecting various structural or functional aspects, including pollen abortion, presence of inclusions, variable pollen grain size, disrupted cell wall structure, cell cycle defects, and male germ unit organization. Thirteen lines were not confirmed to contain the T-DNA insertion. Among 61 confirmed lines, about half (29 lines) showed strong phenotypic changes (i.e., ≥ 25% aberrant pollen) including four lines that produced a remarkably high proportion (70-100%) of disturbed pollen. However, the remaining 32 lines exhibited mild defects or resembled wild-type appearance. There was no significant bias toward any phenotype category among early and late TF genes, nor, interestingly, within individual TF families. Presented results have a potential to serve as a basal information resource for future research on the importance of respective TFs in male gametophyte development.

• MeSH
• Arabidopsis genetics   growth & development   metabolism   MeSH
• DNA, Bacterial MeSH
• Phenotype MeSH
• Multigene Family MeSH
• Pollen growth & development   MeSH
• Genes, Plant MeSH
• Transcription Factors metabolism   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA, Bacterial MeSH
• T-DNA MeSH Browser
• Transcription Factors MeSH