Projects

Male Germline Initiation in Maize

In angiosperms, mature anthers harbor the male gametophyte (pollen), which is key to fertility and hence yield. The first cell type that specifies from pluripotent anther primordia stem cells are germ line cells. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms regulating the specification of primordia stem cells to germ line cells. Research in Arabidopsis, rice and maize has identified some components including ligand-receptor modules, environmental factors, and small RNA pathways, which appear only partially conserved between monocots and dicots. Taken together, the known data indicated that differentiation of stem cells into the male germ line requires highly spatiotemporal regulated processes. This project aims to identify novel factors to unravel interconnection of signaling networks as well as to understand differences between maize and Arabidopsis in male germ line initiation. To this end we will (i) identify gene expression patterns and small RNA pathways in different anther primordia cell groups; (ii) select one novel candidate from these data sets for functional studies; and (iii) study the impact of receptor kinases and their peptide ligands in maize male germ line initiation. Thereby this work will broaden our general understanding of initiation, specification and termination of stem cell-like systems in cereal development.

Dr. Karina van der Linde

Deparment of Cell Biology and Plant Biochemistry
University of Regensburg (UR)

Jia-Chi Ku

Deparment of Cell Biology and Plant Biochemistry
University of Regensburg (UR)