Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS), widely used in the production of hybrid seeds, is a maternally inherited trait resulting in a failure to produce functional pollen. In order to identify some specific proteins associated with CMS in pepper, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was applied to proteomic analysis of anthers/buds between a CMS line (designated NA3) and its maintainer (designa...

Oligonucleotide arrays were used to profile gene expression in dissected maize anthers at four stages: after-anther initiation, at the rapid mitotic proliferation stage, pre-meiosis, and meiotic prophase I. Nearly 9200 sense and antisense transcripts were detected, with the most diverse transcriptome present at the pre-meiotic stage. Three male-sterile mutants lacking a range of normal cell typ...

Maize anthers, the male reproductive floral organs, express two classes of phased small-interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs). PhasiRNA precursors are transcribed by RNA polymerase II and map to low-copy, intergenic regions similar to PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) in mammalian testis. From 10 sequential cohorts of staged maize anthers plus mature pollen we find that 21-nt phased siRNAs from 463 loci ap...

Petunia, which has been prevalently cultivated in landscaping, is a dicotyledonous herbaceous flower of high ornamental value. Annually, there is a massive worldwide market demand for petunia seeds. The normal development of anther is the necessary prerequisite for the plants to generate seeds. However, the knowledge of petunia anther development processes is still limited. To better understand...

The occurrence of enzymes associated with bean leaf abscission was investigated in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) flower reproductive organs in which catabolic cell wall events are essential during anther and pistil development. Cellulase activity was detected in high levels in both pistil and anthers of bean flowers before anthesis. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed...

Nearly all bees rely on pollen as the sole protein source for the development of their larvae. The central importance of pollen for the bee life cycle should exert strong selection on their ability to locate the most rewarding sources of pollen. Despite this importance, very few studies have examined the influence of intraspecific variation in pollen rewards on the foraging decisions of bees. P...

Abstract Background Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a trait associated with non-functional pollen or anthers, caused by the interaction between mitochondrial and nuclear genes. Findings A Tadukan-type CMS line (TAA) restorer (TAR) were obtained successive backcrossing Oryza sativa cultivars Tadukan (a cytoplasmic donor) Taichung 65 recurrent parent). Using Illumina HiSeq, we determined whol...

The development of distyly is thought to arise from differential growth patterns in the pin and thrum morphs. However, few detailed studies exist on the early floral development of distylous flowers, and fewer still look at variation in these traits among populations. Buds at multiple stages of development were collected from five populations of Hedyotis caerulea to quantify how pins and thrums...