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A Calmodulin-Binding Protein from Rice is Essential to Pollen Development

Journal of Plant Biology volume 55, pages 8–14 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

A pollen-expressed gene from rice, OsPCBP, that was previously cloned and identified encodes a novel calmodulin-binding protein. Here, we investigated its functioning in pollen development. Overexpression of OsPCBP in transgenic rice plants did not lead to phenotypic changes but did delay anther formation by about 1 week. Cytological observations at different stages revealed that microspores from the OsPCBP double-stranded RNA interference plants developed normally until the binucleate stage, but about half were later aborted. Meanwhile, the anther microstructure of those plants was unaffected. Further examination of OsPCBP expression in transgenic lines via RT-PCR showed that a significant reduction in transcripts was correlated with this abortion phenotype. Our experimental results provide convincing evidence that OsPCBP protein plays an important role during the late stage of pollen development.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Peter Quail (USDA Agricultural Research Service, Albany, CA, USA) for providing us with the pAHC17 plasmid and Peter M. Waterhouse (CSIRO) for the gift of the pKANNIBAL vector. This work was supported by the Chinese National “863” Program (grant no. 2006AA10A103), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31070303), and the Discipline Construct Foundation of Ludong University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Science, Ludong University, Yantai, Shandong, 264025, China

    Qiusheng Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of MOE for Plant Developmental Biology, College of Life Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China

    Qiusheng Zhang, Zhong Li, Jing Yang, Shaoqin Li, Daichang Yang & Yingguo Zhu

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  1. Qiusheng Zhang
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  2. Zhong Li
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  4. Shaoqin Li
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Correspondence to Yingguo Zhu.

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Zhang, Q., Li, Z., Yang, J. et al. A Calmodulin-Binding Protein from Rice is Essential to Pollen Development. J. Plant Biol. 55, 8–14 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-011-9184-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12374-011-9184-5

Keywords

  • Calmodulin-binding protein
  • Pollen
  • Rice
  • RNA interference (RNAi)