Intercellular communication in Arabidopsis thaliana pollen discovered via AHG3 transcript movement from the vegetative cell to sperm

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 112; no. 43; pp. 13378 - 13383
• Main Authors: Jiang, Hua, Yi, Jun, Boavida, Leonor C, Chen, Yuan, Becker, Jörg D, Köhler, Claudia, McCormick, Sheila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Acad Sciences 27.10.2015; National Academy of Sciences
• Subjects: Arabidopsis - cytology; Arabidopsis - physiology; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Biological Sciences; Botanik; Botany; Cell Communication - physiology; Cloning, Molecular; Developmental Biology; DNA Primers - genetics; Germ Cells, Plant - metabolism; Phosphoprotein Phosphatases - metabolism; Plant biology; Plant growth; Plant reproduction; Plasmids - genetics; Pollen; Pollen - physiology; Protein Transport - physiology; Proteins; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Utvecklingsbiologi; mRNA transport; sperm; protein phosphatase 2C; pollen; vegetative nucleus
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1510854112

An Arabidopsis pollen grain (male gametophyte) consists of three cells: the vegetative cell, which forms the pollen tube, and two sperm cells enclosed within the vegetative cell. It is still unclear if there is intercellular communication between the vegetative cell and the sperm cells. Here we show that ABA-hypersensitive germination3 (AHG3), encoding a protein phosphatase, is specifically transcribed in the vegetative cell but predominantly translated in sperm cells. We used a series of deletion constructs and promoter exchanges to document transport of AHG3 transcripts from the vegetative cell to sperm and showed that their transport requires sequences in both the 5' UTR and the coding region. Thus, in addition its known role in transporting sperm during pollen tube growth, the vegetative cell also contributes transcripts to the sperm cells.