Alternative splicing plays important roles in gene regulation and contributes to protein complexity. Previous studies suggest that alternative splicing exists in members of the villin/gelsolin/fragmin superfamily. In this study, a ser- ine/argine-rich （SR） protein cDNA with 28kDa protein （LISR28） was isolated from a lily （Lilium Iongiflorum） expression library. Protein domain analysis showed that LISR28 had similar structures to Arabidopsis SR45 （AtSR45）, and LISR28 could complement the phenotype of loss of AtSR45 function. Therefore, overexpression of LISR28 and AtSR45 mutant （atsr45-1） were used in the following experiments. Overexpression of LISR28 in Arabidopsis completely inhibited pollen germina- tion. In contrast, the pollen germination of atsr45-1 was earlier than that of wild-type. In addition, pollen of atsr45-1 contained less F-actin at the corresponding hydration stage during pollen germination compared to that of wild-type. Alternative splicing analysis showed that Arabidopsis villinl （AtVLN1） transcript encoding the full-length protein was increased, and that encoding the truncated protein was decreased in atst45-1. Moreover, the mRNA expression level of other actin-binding proteins （ABPs） abundant in Arabidopsis pollen was also changed in atsr45-1. In conclusion, we hypothesize that LISR28 alters F-actin dynamics probably through its alternative splicing activities to affect directly or indirectly the alternative splicing of AtVLN1 and the expression of different ABPs, which then affects the pollen germination.
Li-Juan Cao Meng-Meng Zhao Chang Liu Huai-Jian Dong Wang-Cheng Li Hai-Yun Ren
Lipid and phenolic metabolism are important for pollen exine formation. In Arabidopsis, polyketide synthases （PKSs） are essential for both sporopollenin biosynthesis and exine formation. Here, we characterized the role of a polyketide synthase （OsPKS2） in male reproduction of rice （Oryza sativa）. Recombinant OsPKS2 catalyzed the condensation of fatty acyl-CoA with malonyl- CoA to generate triketide and tetraketide α-pyrones, the main components of pollen exine. Indeed, the ospks2 mutant had defective exine patterning and was male sterile. However, the mutant showed no significant reduction in sporopollenin accumulation. Compared with the WT （wild type）, ospks2 displayed unconfined and amorphous tectum and nexine layers in the exine, and less organized Ubisch bodies. Like the pksb/lap5 mutant of the Arabidopsis ortholog, ospks2 showed broad alterations in the profiles of anther-related phenolic compounds. However, unlike pksb/laps, in which most detected phenolics were substantially decreased, ospks2 accumu- lated higher levels of phenolics. Based on these results and our observation that OsPKS2 is unable to fully restore the exine defects in the pksb/laps, we propose that PKS proteins have functionally diversified during evolution. Collectively, our results suggest that PKSs represent a conserved and diversified biochemical pathway for anther and pollen development in higher plants.
Formins are well-known regulators that participate in the organization of the actin cytoskeleton in organisms. The Arabidopsis thaliana L. genome encodes 21 formins, which can be divided into two distinct subfamilies. However, type II formins have to date been less well characterized. Here, we cloned a type II formin, AtFH16, and characterized its biochemical activities on actin and microtubule dynamics. The results show that the FH1 FH2 structure of AtFH16 cannot nucleate actin polymerization efficiently, but can bind and bundle microfilaments. AtFH16 FHIFH2 is also able to bind and bundle microtubules, and preferentially binds microtubules over microfilaments in vitro, in addition, AtFH16 FHIFH2 co-localizes with microtubules in onion epidermal cells, indicating a higher binding affinity of AtFH16 FHIFH2 for microtubules rather than microfilaments in vivo. In conclusion, AtFH16 is able to interact with both microfilaments and microtubules, suggesting that AtFH16 probably functions as a bifunctional protein, and may thus participate in plant cellular processes.
