Articles
MALE GERM LINE CELL DEVELOPMENT AND HISTONE VARIANTS IN LILIUM LONGIFLORUM
Article number
900_20
Pages
169 – 174
Language
English
Abstract
Sexual reproduction involving sperm and egg fusion to produce zygote and ultimately seed depends upon development of functional gametes.
However, most of the molecular mechanisms underlying flowering-plant male germ-cell specification and differentiation remain unexplored.
This lack of knowledge in case of the male gametic cells was mainly attributable to their inaccessibility within pollen.
The development of protocols for isolating intact gametes from mature lily pollen facilitated investigations on male gamete development.
Using lily as a model system revealed that male gametes are transcriptionally active and express a portion of the plant genome that is not expressed in any other plant cell including genes encoding histone variants specific to the male germ-cell lineage.
The incorporation of histone variants in the chromatin structure can lead to the generation of a histone code specific to the male germ line that combines both histone variants and their post-translational modifications.
In this review we summarize current knowledge of histone variants showing cell-specific expression in lily male germ line cells.
However, most of the molecular mechanisms underlying flowering-plant male germ-cell specification and differentiation remain unexplored.
This lack of knowledge in case of the male gametic cells was mainly attributable to their inaccessibility within pollen.
The development of protocols for isolating intact gametes from mature lily pollen facilitated investigations on male gamete development.
Using lily as a model system revealed that male gametes are transcriptionally active and express a portion of the plant genome that is not expressed in any other plant cell including genes encoding histone variants specific to the male germ-cell lineage.
The incorporation of histone variants in the chromatin structure can lead to the generation of a histone code specific to the male germ line that combines both histone variants and their post-translational modifications.
In this review we summarize current knowledge of histone variants showing cell-specific expression in lily male germ line cells.
Publication
Authors
P.L. Bhalla, M.B. Singh
Keywords
lily, pollen, generative cell, plant reproduction, male gametes
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