Genetic features of a pollen-part mutation suggest an inhibitory role for the Antirrhinum pollen self-incompatibility determinant.
Self-incompatibility (SI), an important barrier to inbreeding in flowering plants, is controlled in many species by a single polymorphic S-locus. In the Solanaceae, two tightly linked S-locus genes, S-RNase and SLF (S-locus F-box)/SFB (S-haplotype-specific F-box), control SI expression in pistil and pollen, respectively. The pollen S-determinant appears to function to inhibit all but self S-RNase in the Solanaceae, but its genetic function in the closely-related Plantaginaceae remains equivocal. We have employed transposon mutagenesis in a member of the Plantaginaceae (Antirrhinum) to generate a pollen-part SI-breakdown mutant Pma1 (Pollen-part mutation in Antirrhinum1). Molecular genetic analyses showed that an extra telocentric chromosome containing AhSLF-S ( 1 ) is present in its self-compatible but not in its SI progeny. Furthermore, analysis of the effects of selection revealed positive selection acting on both SLFs and SFBs, but with a stronger purifying selection on SLFs. Taken together, our results suggest an inhibitor role of the pollen S in the Plantaginaceae (as represented by Antirrhinum), similar to that found in the Solanaceae. The implication of these findings is discussed in the context of S-locus evolution in flowering plants.
Laboratory of Molecular and Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and National Center for Plant Gene Research, West Lincui Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. ybxue@genetics.ac.cn
Yongbiao
Y
Xue
Yijing
Y
Zhang
Qiuying
Q
Yang
Qun
Q
Li
Zhukuan
Z
Cheng
Hugh G
HG
Dickinson
D032161:Antirrhinum / Q000235:genetics*; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D051479:Plant Infertility / Q000235:genetics; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D011058:Pollen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D053205:Pollen Tube / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012260:Ribonucleases / Q000235:genetics*
D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D010940:Plant Proteins; D012260:Ribonucleases; C022542:ribonuclease S