抄録
The sculpture of plant pollen grains is species specific, and this distinct pattern is thought to be important for pollen-stigma adhesion. Exine, the outermost layer of pollen wall, defines this pattern. To know the molecular mechanism of the formation of the exine sculpture, we are investigating kompeito (kom) mutant, in which the sculpture of pollen grains is dramatically changed.
In kom, the amount of callose around the pollen mother cell was reduced in the meiosis stage. In the tetrad stage, sporopollenin was randomly deposited onto the plasma membrane of the microspore, and following exine formation was disrupted. KOM, which encoded a seven-path transmembrane protein, was expressed in pollen mother cell during the meiosis stage. KOM-GFP fusion protein was co-localized with Golgi markers, suggesting that KOM is localized in Golgi apparatus. Based on our results, it is suggested that KOM is important for callose accumulation and exine formation.
