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Pollen-expressed F-box gene family and mechanism of S-RNase-based gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) in Rosaceae

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Abstract

Many species of Rosaceae, Solanaceae, and Plantaginaceae exhibit S-RNase-based self-incompatibility (SI) in which pistil-part specificity is controlled by S locus-encoded ribonuclease (S-RNase). Although recent findings revealed that S locus-encoded F-box protein, SLF/SFB, determines pollen-part specificity, how these pistil- and pollen-part S locus products interact in vivo and elicit the SI reaction is largely unclear. Furthermore, genetic studies suggested that pollen S function can differ among species. In Solanaceae and the rosaceous subfamily Maloideae (e.g., apple and pear), the coexistence of two different pollen S alleles in a pollen breaks down SI of the pollen, a phenomenon known as competitive interaction. However, competitive interaction seems not to occur in the subfamily Prunoideae (e.g., cherry and almond) of Rosaceae. Furthermore, the effect of the deletion of pollen S seems to vary among taxa. This review focuses on the potential differences in pollen-part function between subfamilies of Rosaceae, Maloideae, and Prunoideae, and discusses implications for the mechanistic divergence of the S-RNase-based SI.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Koichiro Ushijima for critical reading of the manuscript. Research in the authors’ laboratory is supported in part by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B, 20380003) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan.

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  1. Graduate School of Horticulture, Chiba University, Matsudo, Chiba, 271-8510, Japan

    Hidenori Sassa, Hiroyuki Kakui & Mai Minamikawa

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  1. Hidenori Sassa
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  2. Hiroyuki Kakui
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  3. Mai Minamikawa
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Correspondence to Hidenori Sassa.

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Communicated by Scott Russell.

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Sassa, H., Kakui, H. & Minamikawa, M. Pollen-expressed F-box gene family and mechanism of S-RNase-based gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) in Rosaceae. Sex Plant Reprod 23, 39–43 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-009-0111-6

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