ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Cell Research (2007): 249-263
© 2007 IBCB, SIBS, CAS All rights reserved 1001-0602/06 $ 30.00
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Arabidopsis AtBECLIN 1/AtAtg6/AtVps30 is essential for pollen germination and plant development

Genji Qin¹, Zhiqiang Ma¹, Li Zhang¹, Shufan Xing¹, Xianhui Hou¹, Jie Deng¹, Jingjing Liu¹, Zhangliang Chen^1,2, Li-Jia Qu^1,2 and Hongya Gu^1,2

Correspondence: Hongya Gu Fax: +86-10-6275-1841 E-mail: guhy@pku.edu.cn

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Pollen germination on the surface of compatible stigmatic tissues is an essential step for plant fertilization. Here we report that the Arabidopsis mutant bcl1 is male sterile as a result of the failure of pollen germination. We show that the bcl1 mutant allele cannot be transmitted by male gametophytes and no homozygous bcl1 mutants were obtained. Analysis of pollen developmental stages indicates that the bcl1 mutation affects pollen germination but not pollen maturation. Molecular analysis demonstrates that the failure of pollen germination was caused by the disruption of AtBECLIN 1. AtBECLIN 1 is expressed predominantly in mature pollen and encodes a protein with significant homology to Beclin1/Atg6/Vps30 required for the processes of autophagy and vacuolar protein sorting (VPS) in yeast. We also show that AtBECLIN 1 is required for normal plant development, and that genes related to autophagy, VPS and the glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor system, were affected by the deficiency of AtBECLIN 1.

Cell Research (2007) 17: 249-263. doi: 10.1038/cr.2007.7; published online 6 March 2007

Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana, AtBECLIN 1, pollen germination, plant normal development