Female sterile tobacco plants are produced by stigma‐specific cell ablation

We identified a tobacco stigma‐specific gene, designated STIG1. The STIG1 gene is developmentally regulated and expressed specifically in the stigmatic secretory zone. We used a chimeric STIG1‐GUS gene to show that the stigma‐specific STIG1 gene expression pattern is controlled primarily at the tran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The EMBO journal 1994-07, Vol.13 (13), p.2976-2984
Main Authors: Goldman, M.H., Goldberg, R.B., Mariani, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino Acid Sequence
Arabidopsis - genetics
Base Sequence
Biological and medical sciences
Cloning, Molecular
DNA - analysis
Fertility - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gene Expression Regulation
Genes, Plant - genetics
Molecular Sequence Data
Nicotiana - cytology
Nicotiana - genetics
Nicotiana - physiology
Nicotiana tabacum
Plant physiology and development
Plant Proteins - genetics
Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics
Plants, Toxic
Recombinant Fusion Proteins - genetics
Reproduction - physiology
RNA, Messenger - analysis
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sexual reproduction
Vegetative and sexual reproduction, floral biology, fructification
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Summary:We identified a tobacco stigma‐specific gene, designated STIG1. The STIG1 gene is developmentally regulated and expressed specifically in the stigmatic secretory zone. We used a chimeric STIG1‐GUS gene to show that the stigma‐specific STIG1 gene expression pattern is controlled primarily at the transcriptional level. We constructed a stigma‐specific cytotoxic gene by fusing the STIG1 gene 5′ regulatory region with the coding sequence of the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens barnase gene, to assess the role of the stigmatic secretory zone in the pollination process. Pistils of transgenic STIG1‐barnase tobacco plants undergo normal development, but lack the stigmatic secretory zone and are female sterile. Pollen grains germinate on the ablated ‘stigmatic’ surface, but are unable to penetrate the transmitting tissue of the style. Application of stigmatic exudate from wild‐type pistils to the ablated surface increases the efficiency of pollen tube germination and growth and restores the capacity of pollen tubes to penetrate the style. Our data demonstrate the importance of the stigmatic secretory zone in the pollination process and provide an approach to identify compounds produced by the stigma that are critical for successful pollination and fertilization to occur.
ISSN:0261-4189
1460-2075
DOI:10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06596.x