Ensuring Reproduction at High Temperatures: The Heat Stress Response during Anther and Pollen Development

Abstract

Sexual reproduction in flowering plants is very sensitive to environmental stresses, particularly to thermal insults which frequently occur when plants grow in field conditions in the warm season. Although abnormalities in both male and female reproductive organs due to high temperatures have been described in several crops, the failure to set fruits has mainly been attributed to the high sensitivity of developing anthers and pollen grains, particularly at certain developmental stages. A global view of the molecular mechanisms involved in the response to high temperatures in the male reproductive organs will be presented in this review. In addition, transcriptome and proteomic data, currently available, will be discussed in the light of physiological and metabolic changes occurring during anther and pollen development. A deep understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the stress response to high temperatures in flowers and, particularly, in the male reproductive organs will be a major step towards development of effective breeding strategies for high and stable production in crop plants.

Heat stress regimes for the investigation of pollen thermotolerance in crop plants

“…Pollen is sensitive to heat during microsporogenesis and Plant Reprod microgametogenesis as well as during its post-pollination phase (Barnabás et al 2007;Hedhly 2011;Giorno et al 2013). Pooling pollen samples that received the stress at different developmental stages can lead to wrong conclusions.…”

Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Fertility Reduction upon Heat Stress Reveals Developmental Stage-Specific QTLs in Arabidopsis thaliana

“…In many studies describing heat stress during flowering, a prominent role is given to heat shock proteins (Hsps) and heat shock transcription factors (Hsfs) (Giorno et al, 2013). For instance, constitutive and heat stress induced accumulation of Hsps in reproductive tissue (especially anthers) is associated with heat tolerance (Bita et al, 2011).…”

Climate Change: Seed Production and Options for Adaptation

“…This would provide a system-wide phenome to genome analysis [123] allowing accurate trait mapping, introgression of superior alleles, or cloning of major quantitative trait loci (QLTs). Genome-wide analyses have started to provide some candidate genes involved in thermotolerance [135][136][137][138]. Understanding the genetic basis of heat tolerance is essential to allow breeders to facilitate the transfer of genes for heat tolerance to commercial cultivars [123,134].…”