1. Volume 6, Issue 5, Pages 1715-1718 (September 2013)
A Novel Rice bHLH Transcription Factor, DTD, Acts Coordinately with TDR in Controlling Tapetum Function and Pollen Development 
Chonghui Ji, Heying Li, Libin Chen, Min Xie, Fengping Wang, Yuanling Chen, Yao-Guang Liu 
Molecular Plant 
Volume 6, Issue 5, Pages (September 2013)
DOI: /mp/sst046
Copyright © 2013 The Authors. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions

2. Figure 1
DTD Acts Coordinately with TDR in Normal Tapetum Function and Male Fertility.
(A) Phenotypes of the anthers in wild-type (WT) rice and the male-sterile mutant. The lower panels show that anthers of WT and the mutant (stained with 1% potassium iodide) had pollen grains and no pollen, respectively. Bars = 1 mm.
(B) Detection of tapetal PCD by TUNEL in the developing anthers of the WT and mutant plants. Yellow signal indicates TUNEL-positive nuclei of PCD cells. T, tapetum; Msp, microspore. Bars = 20 μm.
(C) The structure of the DTD gene and the nucleotide deletion in dtd. Premature stop codon (TAA) is indicated in red.
(D) Expression analysis of DTD and dtd by qRT–PCR. The relative expression levels indicate the ratios of DTD/OsActin1. S6 to S12 indicate stages 6–12 of anther development, as in Zhang et al. (2011). Error bars show SD (n = 3).
(E) P35S::DTD–EGFP and P35S::TDR–RFP constructs were co-transformed into tobacco protoplasts to confirm that the fusion protein targeted to the nucleus. TDR–RFP marked the nucleus. Scale bars = 20 μm.
(F) BiFC assays showing the interaction of DTD with TDR. Scale bars = 20 μm.
(G) Relative expression changes of OsC4, OsC6, and RTS in WT and dtd plants, measured by qRT–PCR. The relative expression levels indicate the ratio of the target gene/OsActin1. Error bars show SD (n = 3).
(H) A proposed model for the molecular function of DTD, coordinately with TDR, in controlling proper tapetal PCD and pollen maturation by activating OsC4, OsC6, and RTS. The dysfunction of the tapetum caused by the defective dtd gene may induce a feedback regulation to some tapetum function-related genes.
Molecular Plant 2013 6, DOI: ( /mp/sst046)
Copyright © 2013 The Authors. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions