OsACOS12 is Vital in Pollen Exine Formation and Anther Development in Rice

In Arabidopsis, acyl-CoA synthetase5 (ACOS5) is involved in sporopollenin, a major component of the pollen exine pattern, precursor biosynthesis. The team of Yueling Li from Shanghai Normal University identified its orthologue in rice (Oryza sativa), OsACOS12, and compared it with that from Arabidopsis.

Analysis showed that OsACOS12 shares 63.9% amino acid sequence identity with ACOS5. The OsACOS12 recessive mutation caused by a pre-mature stop codon in LOC_Os04g24530 exhibited a male sterile phenotype in rice. Further analysis shows that OsACOS12 is expressed in tapetal cells and microspores and its protein is accumulated in tapetal cells and anther locules. OsACOS12, when driven by the ACOS5 promoter, could partially restore the male fertility of the ACOS5 recessive mutant in Arabidopsis.

This study found that OsACOS12 is the rice orthologue of ACOS5 that is essential for sporopollenin synthesis in rice. ACOS5 and OsACOS12 are implicated with pollen wall formation in monocot and dicot species.

For more information, read the full article in BMC Plant Biology.