Image of the month (August 2010)

Zebra pollen mutants of Arabidopsis

This image is from a research article, 'CYP704B1 Is a Long-Chain Fatty Acid ω-Hydroxylase Essential for Sporopollenin Synthesis in Pollen of Arabidopsis" by Anna A. Dobritsa, Jay Shrestha, Marc Morant, Franck Pinot, Michiyo Matsuno, Robert Swanson, Birger Lindberg Møller, and Daphne Preuss, University of Chicago, USA.

Article reference: Dobritsa et al (2009), Plant Physiol. 151(2): 574–589

From the description that accompanied this image in the research article:

"We performed a large-scale genetic screen in Arabidopsis aimed at identification of mutants with defects in pollen exine production. In this screen, we recovered, among others, a particular phenotypic class of mutants with anthers that contained pollen that was not easily shed and appeared glossy with a dissection microscope. Close examination by laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) of auramine O-stained pollen grains revealed that the mutant pollen lacked normal exine (Fig. 1Figure 1.). The exine was replaced with a thin layer of a material that did not stain well with auramine O (Fig. 1, B–IFigure 1.). A rare and irregular distribution of aggregates that stained densely with auramine O was also present. A typical characteristic of the surface was the presence of dark, non-auramine O-positive stripes (Fig. 1, B–IFigure 1.). Accordingly, we refer to this mutant class as having a zebra pollen phenotype."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Click here for previously featured image of the month.