RESUMEN
Plant cell wall polymers are regulated during development, but the specific roles of their different molecular components and the functional meaning of cell wall changes in different cell types and cell processes are still unclear. In the present work the presence and distribution of different cell wall components in Capsicum annuum L. pollen have been analyzed in situ in order to monitor how they change during two developmental programs. These programs are: pollen development, which is a differentiation process, and stress-induced pollen reprogramming to embryogenesis, which involves proliferation followed later by differentiation processes. Specific antibodies recognizing the major cell wall polymers, the major hemicellulose, xyloglucan (XG), the rhamnogalacturonan II (RGII) pectin domain and high- and low-methyl-esterified pectins were used for both dot-blot and immunolocalization assays at light and electron microscopy levels during defined developmental stages. For comparison purposes, a similar approach was also used in zygotic embryogenesis and root apical tip growth. Results showed differences in the distribution pattern of these molecular complexes, in the proportion of esterified and de-esterified pectins in the two pollen developmental pathways, and defined wall changes during microspore reprogramming. These changes were associated with proliferation and differentiation events where highly esterified pectins were characteristic of proliferation, while de-esterified pectins, XG and RGII were abundant in walls of differentiating cells. Starch deposits were also studied and the results revealed changes in starch synthesis dynamics after switching the pollen embryogenic developmental program. These changes occurred together with modifications in the distribution patterns of cell wall polymers, starch accumulation being associated with cell differentiation. As in the case of proliferating cells, esterified pectins were also abundant in the apertures of developing microspores, regions of new cell wall formation. The different distribution patterns of cell wall polymers were common for proliferating cells and differentiating cells in all the plant systems analyzed, including zygotic embryos and root tip cells, suggesting that these patterns are markers of proliferation and differentiation events as well as markers of pollen reprogramming to embryogenesis.
Asunto(s)
Capsicum/embriología , Diferenciación Celular , Proliferación Celular , Pared Celular/metabolismo , Polen/metabolismo , Almidón/metabolismo , Capsicum/citología , Capsicum/metabolismo , Pectinas/metabolismoRESUMEN
Plant cell walls and their polymers are regulated during plant development, but the specific roles of their molecular components are still unclear, as well as the functional meaning of wall changes in different cell types and processes. In this work the in situ analysis of the distribution of different cell wall components was performed during two developmental programmes, gametophytic pollen development, which is a differentiation process, and stress-induced pollen embryogenesis, which involves proliferation followed by differentiation processes. The changes in cell wall polymers were compared with a system of plant cell proliferation and differentiation, the root apical meristem. The analysis was also carried out during the first stages of zygotic embryogenesis. Specific antibodies recognizing the major cell wall polymers, xyloglucan (XG) and the rhamnogalacturonan II (RGII) pectin domain, and antibodies against high- and low-methyl-esterified pectins were used for both dot-blot and immunolocalization with light and electron microscopy. The results showed differences in the distribution pattern of these molecular complexes, as well as in the proportion of esterified and non-esterified pectins in the two pollen developmental pathways. Highly esterified pectins were characteristics of proliferation, whereas high levels of the non-esterified pectins, XG and RGII were abundant in walls of differentiating cells. Distribution patterns similar to those of pollen embryos were found in zygotic embryos. The wall changes reported are characteristic of proliferation and differentiation events as markers of these processes that take place during pollen development and embryogenesis.
Asunto(s)
Capsicum/embriología , Capsicum/metabolismo , Diferenciación Celular , Proliferación Celular , Pared Celular/metabolismo , Pectinas/metabolismo , Polen/citología , Capsicum/citología , Capsicum/genética , Pared Celular/genética , Esterificación , Polen/embriología , Polen/genética , Polen/metabolismoRESUMEN
Background information. In vitro-cultured microspores, after an appropriate stress treatment, can switch towards an embryogenic pathway. This process, known as microspore embryogenesis, is an important tool in plant breeding. Basic studies on this process in economically interesting crops, especially in recalcitrant plants, are very limited and the sequence of events is poorly understood. In situ studies are very convenient for an appropriate dissection of microspore embryogenesis, a process in which a mixture of different cell populations (induced and non-induced) develop asynchronically.Results. In the present study, the occurrence of defined subcellular rearrangements has been investigated during early microspore embryogenesis in pepper, an horticultural crop of agronomic interest, in relation to proliferation and differentiation events. Haploid plants of Capsicum annuum L. (var. Yolo Wonder B) have been regenerated from in vitro anther cultures by a heat treatment at 35 degrees C for 8 days. Morphogenesis of microspore-derived embryos has been analysed, at both light and electron microscopy levels, using low-temperature-processed, well-preserved specimens. The comparison with the normal gametophytic development revealed changes in cell organization after embryogenesis induction, and permitted the characterization of the time sequence of a set of structural events, not previously defined in pepper, related to the activation of proliferative activity and differentiation. These changes mainly affected the plastids, the vacuolar compartment, the cell wall and the nucleus. Further differentiation processes mimicked that of the zygotic development.Conclusions. The reported changes can be considered as markers of the microspore embryogenesis. They have increased the understanding of the mechanisms controlling the switch and progression of the microspore embryogenesis, which could help to improve its efficiency and to direct strategies, especially in agronomically interesting crops.