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A time course of GFP expression and mRNA stability in pollen tubes following compatible and incompatible pollinations in Solanum chacoense

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Abstract

The self-incompatibility (SI) reaction in the Solanaceae involves molecular recognition of stylar haplotypes by pollen and is mediated by the S-locus from which a stylar-localized S-RNase and several pollen-localized F-box proteins are expressed. S-RNase activity has been previously shown to be essential for the SI reaction, leading to the hypothesis that pollen rejection in incompatible crosses is due to degradation of pollen RNA. We used pollen expressing the fluorescent marker GFP, driven by the LAT52 promoter, to monitor the accumulation of mRNA and protein in pollen after compatible and incompatible pollinations. We find that GFP mRNA and protein gradually accumulate in pollen tubes until at least 18-h post-pollination and, up to this time, are only slightly more abundant in compatible compared with incompatible crosses. However, between 18- and 24-h post-pollination, pollen tube GFP mRNA and protein levels show a dramatic increase in compatible crosses and either remain constant or decrease in incompatible crosses. In contrast to these molecular correlates, the growth rates of compatible and incompatible pollen tubes begin to differ after 6-h post-pollination. We interpret the changes in growth rate at 6-h post-pollination as the previously described transition from autotrophic to heterotrophic growth. Thus, while pollen rejection is generally considered to result from the cytotoxic effects of S-RNase activity, this time course reveals that a difference in the growth rate of compatible and incompatible pollen appears prior to any marked effects on at least some types of pollen RNA.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. S. McCormick for providing the pollen-specific Lat52 promoter, Dr. D. Matton for providing an S 11 S 13 line expressing GFP in the pollen, Dr. G. Laublin for plant transformation, Dr. M. Hijri for the use of the confocal microscope and Michel Lemay for plant care. We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (MC) and Fonds de Recherche sur la Nature et les Technologies du Québec (FQRNT) (MC and DM).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Sciences Biologiques, Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale (IRBV), Université de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke est, Montreal, QC, H1X 2B2, Canada

    Bolin Liu, Nicolas Boivin, David Morse & Mario Cappadocia

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  1. Bolin Liu
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  2. Nicolas Boivin
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  3. David Morse
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  4. Mario Cappadocia
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Correspondence to Mario Cappadocia.

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Communicated by Scott Russell.

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497_2012_192_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary material 1 Supplementary Figure 1. Expression of GFP in pollen does not affect germination or seed set. (PDF 208 kb)

497_2012_192_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Supplementary material 2 Supplementary Figure 2. GFP and Lat52 mRNA levels behave similarly during compatible and incompatible crosses. (PDF 99 kb)

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Liu, B., Boivin, N., Morse, D. et al. A time course of GFP expression and mRNA stability in pollen tubes following compatible and incompatible pollinations in Solanum chacoense . Sex Plant Reprod 25, 205–213 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-012-0192-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-012-0192-5

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