Changes in gene expression during male meiosis in Petunia hybrida.
We analyzed changes in gene expression during male meiosis in Petunia by combining the meiotic staging of pollen mother cells from a single anther with cDNA-AFLP transcript profiling of mRNA from the synchronously developing sister anthers. The transcript profiling experiments focused on the identification of genes with a modulated expression profile during meiosis, while premeiotic archesporial cells and postmeiotic microspores served as a reference. About 8000 transcript tags, estimated at 30% of the total transcriptome, were generated, of which around 6% exhibited a modulated gene expression pattern at meiosis. Cluster analysis revealed a transcriptional cascade that coincides with the initiation and progression through all stages of the two meiotic divisions. Fragments that exhibited high expression specifically during meiosis I were characterized further by sequencing; 90 out of the 293 sequenced fragments showed homology with known genes, belonging to a wide range of gene classes, including previously characterized meiotic genes. In-situ hybridization experiments were performed to determine the spatial expression pattern for five selected transcript tags. Its concurrence with cDNA-AFLP transcript profiles indicates that this is an excellent approach to study genes involved in specialized processes such as meiosis. Our data set provides the potential to unravel unique meiotic genes that are as yet elusive to reverse genetics approaches.
Cnudde
Filip
F
Institute for Wetland and Water Research, Department of Experimental Botany, Section Plant Genetics, Radboud University, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Hedatale
Veena
V
de Jong
Hans
H
Pierson
Elisabeth S
ES
Rainey
Daphne Y
DY
Zabeau
Marc
M
Weterings
Koen
K
Gerats
Tom
T
Peters
Janny L
JL
D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D018745:Genome, Plant; D008540:Meiosis / Q000235:genetics*; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D032306:Petunia / Q000235:genetics*
D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018744:DNA, Plant