Knowledge Bank

Pollen grains are covered by a cell wall called exine that forms different patterns in different species. Additionally, pollen grains also have gaps in exine deposition called apertures. Both aperture and exine morphology exhibits complex structural patterns that are species- specific. The genes previously discovered to play a role in specification and formation of apertures include MCR, ELMOD_A, DNT, INP1, INP2, SRF2, and D6PKL3. There is some understanding of the genetic interactions that take place between the previously discovered proteins and of the mechanisms through which they contribute to aperture development, although there are still many gaps in this understanding. It is likely that there are many more genes involved in aperture formation and exine deposition that are still unknown. The distinct geometric patterns and precise structures that make up the outer wall of pollen grain make them an interesting target for understanding the mechanics of cellular development and localization. Understanding how these species-specific structures form can also shed light on the formation of distinct cellular domains beyond plants. Through a forward genetic screen in Arabidopsis thaliana, a plant model organism, we previously isolated mutants defective in development of exine and apertures. In this study, I mapped the positions of mutations in ten of these mutant lines and isolated gene candidates for nine of the mutants.