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Plant and Cell Physiology Advance Access originally published online on January 2, 2009
Plant and Cell Physiology 2009 50(2):179-190; doi:10.1093/pcp/pcn207
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Rapid Paper

Involvement of Polypyrimidine Tract-Binding Protein (PTB)-Related Proteins in Pollen Germination in Arabidopsis

Shuyi Wang and Takashi Okamoto*

Department of Biological Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minami-osawa 1-1, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397 Japan

*Corresponding author: E-mail, okamoto-takashi{at}c.metro-u.ac.jp; Fax, +81-426-77-2559.


  Abstract

The pollen grains of most angiosperms contain stores of RNAs and their translation products required for pollen germination and subsequent early elongation of pollen tubes. Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB), which is involved in the regulation of pre-mRNA alternative splicing, internal ribosomal entry site (IRES)-mediated translation and mRNA localization/sorting, is known to act as a bridging molecule between RNAs and a variety of cellular factors to fulfill cellular functions in both the nucleus and cytoplasm. Moreover, it has been reported that PTB plays roles in the differentiation and development of animal cells and tissues. In the Arabidopsis genome, there are two PTB-related genes, tentatively termed AtPTB1 and AtPTB2. In the present study, the physiological functions of AtPTBs were investigated using genetic and cytological approaches. The AtPTB promoter was highly active in vegetative cells of mature pollen grains, and AtPTB was localized in the nucleus and cytoplasm of these vegetative cells. Mutations in the AtPTB genes resulted in decreased germination efficiency, and this effect was rescued by introduction of the AtPTB2 promoter::AtPTB2–GFP. Taken together, these findings suggest that AtPTB is involved in pollen germination through possible RNA metabolism processes in late-maturing and mature pollen grains.

Keywords: Arabidopsis - Pollen germination - Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein - Vegetative cell

Abbreviations: DAPI, 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole; FDA, fluorescein diacetate; GFP, green fluorescent protein; GUS, β-glucuronidase; hnRNP, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein; IRES, internal ribosomal entry site; PTB, polypyrimidine tract-binding protein; RRM, RNA recognition motif; RT–PCR, reverse transcription–PCR

(Received December 4, 2008; Accepted December 22, 2008)
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