Identification and verification of genes related to pollen development and male sterility induced by high temperature in the thermo-sensitive genic male sterile wheat line

Main conclusion Bioinformatic analysis identified the function of genes regulating wheat fertility. Barley stripe mosaic virus-induced gene silencing verified that the genesTaMut11andTaSF3are involved in pollen development and related to fertility conversion. Environment-sensitive genic male sterility is of vital importance to hybrid vigor in crop production and breeding. Therefore, it is meaningful to study the function of the genes related to pollen development and male sterility, which is still not fully understand currently. In this study, YanZhan 4110S, a new thermo-sensitive genic male sterility wheat line, and its near-isogenic line YanZhan 4110 were analyzed. Through comparative transcriptome basic bioinformatics and weighted gene co-expression network to further identify some hub genes, the genes TaMut11 and TaSF3 associated with pollen development and male sterility induced by high-temperature were identified in YanZhan 4110S. Further verification through barley stripe mosaic virus-induced gene silencing elucidated that the silencing of TaMut11 and TaSF3 caused pollen abortion, finally resulting in the declination of fertility. These findings provided data on the abortive mechanism in environment-sensitive genic male sterility wheat.

Automated summary

Bioinformatic analysis identified genes TaMut11 and TaSF3 associated with pollen development and male sterility induced by high-temperature in a new thermo-sensitive genic male sterility wheat line. Verification through gene silencing showed that silencing TaMut11 and TaSF3 caused pollen abortion, leading to a decline in fertility. These findings provided insights into the abortive mechanism in environment-sensitive genic male sterility wheat.