title: Autophagy, programmed cell death and reactive oxygen species in sexual reproduction in plants.
abstract: Autophagy is one of the major cellular processes of recycling of proteins, metabolites and intracellular organelles, and plays crucial roles in the regulation of innate immunity, stress responses and programmed cell death (PCD) in many eukaryotes. It is also essential in development and sexual reproduction in many animals. In plants, although autophagy-deficient mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana show phenotypes in abiotic and biotic stress responses, their life cycle seems normal and thus little had been known until recently about the roles of autophagy in development and reproduction. Rice mutants defective in autophagy show sporophytic male sterility and immature pollens, indicating crucial roles of autophagy during pollen maturation. Enzymatic production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by respiratory burst oxidase homologues (Rbohs) play multiple roles in regulating anther development, pollen tube elongation and fertilization. Significance of autophagy and ROS in the regulation of PCD of transient cells during plant sexual reproduction is discussed in comparison with animals.
authors.affiliation: School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo University of Technology, 1404-1 Katakura, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0982, Japan.|Imaging Frontier Center, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba, 278-8510, Japan.
authors.forename: Takamitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kurusu
authors.affiliation: Imaging Frontier Center, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba, 278-8510, Japan. kuchitsu@rs.noda.tus.ac.jp.|Department of Applied Biological Science, Tokyo University of Science, 2641 Yamazaki, Noda, Chiba, 278-8510, Japan. kuchitsu@rs.noda.tus.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuchitsu
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics; D001343:Autophagy / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005306:Fertilization / Q000502:physiology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D005838:Genotype; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D009154:Mutation; D019255:NADPH Oxidases; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011058:Pollen / Q000235:genetics; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology; D014617:Vacuoles / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D010940:Plant Proteins; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D019255:NADPH Oxidases; C022709:superoxide-forming enzyme
keywords: Autophagy; Fertilization; Programmed cell death (PCD); Reactive oxygen species (ROS); Sexual reproduction; Vacuole