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LAP3, a novel plant protein required for pollen development, is essential for proper exine formation

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Abstract

We isolated lap3-1 and lap3-2 mutants in a screen for pollen that displays abnormal stigma binding. Unlike wild-type pollen, lap3-1 and lap3-2 pollen exine is thinner, weaker, and is missing some connections between their roof-like tectum structures. We describe the mapping and identification of LAP3 as a novel gene that contains a repetitive motif found in β-propeller enzymes. Insertion mutations in LAP3 lead to male sterility. To investigate possible roles for LAP3 in pollen development, we assayed the metabolite profile of anther tissues containing developing pollen grains and found that the lap3-2 defect leads to a broad range of metabolic changes. The largest changes were seen in levels of a straight-chain hydrocarbon nonacosane and in naringenin chalcone, an obligate compound in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation MCB-0520283.

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Author notes

  1. Shuh-Ichi Nishikawa

    Present address: Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusaka, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan

  2. Daphne Preuss

    Present address: Chromatin Inc., Chicago, IL, USA

  3. Ewa Urbanczyk-Wochniak

    Present address: Monsanto Company, 800 North Lindbergh Boulevard, St Louis, MO, 63167, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Anna A. Dobritsa & Daphne Preuss

  2. Plant Biology Division, Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Ardmore, OK, 73401, USA

    Ewa Urbanczyk-Wochniak & Lloyd W. Sumner

  3. Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Adam Hammond

  4. Department of Biology, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN, 46383-6493, USA

    Ann L. Carlson & Robert J. Swanson

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  1. Anna A. Dobritsa
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  2. Shuh-Ichi Nishikawa
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Correspondence to Robert J. Swanson.

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Communicated by David Twell.

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Dobritsa, A.A., Nishikawa, SI., Preuss, D. et al. LAP3, a novel plant protein required for pollen development, is essential for proper exine formation. Sex Plant Reprod 22, 167–177 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-009-0101-8

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