Characterization of pollen-specific members in the  Arabidopsis perk gene family.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 88
ISBN-13: 9780494211526
Description: In Arabidopsis, PERK family of receptor kinases consists of 15 members characterized by an extracellular domain with proline-rich and extensin-like motifs, which are present in cell wall associated proteins. To study the biological functions of pollen-specific PERKs  (PERK4-7, 11 and 12) and to investigate potential links to the cell wall, a reverse genetic approach was taken. Phenotypic characterization of TDNA insertion single and double perk mutants generally revealed wild-type phenotype. However, perk4/+  perk3/+ plants produced a mutant phenotype of collapsed pollen. To better characterize pollen-specific PERKs, PERK12  promoter::GUS and PERK3 promoter::GUS plants were analyzed and showed expression in mature pollen and pollen tubes. Finally, potential cytoplasmic interactors of PERK4 were identified in a yeast two-hybrid analysis. The initial screen identified a putative protein associated with clathrin-coated vesicles, suggesting possible involvement in vesicle trafficking. Collectively, these results suggest pollen-specific PERKs may function in both pollen development and pollen tube growth.
Notes: Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-03, page: 1381.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

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