Dissection of "key and keyhole" factors functioning during pollination and genome stability in the formation of diploid species.

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project Area: Determining the principles of the birth of new plant species: molecular elucidation of the lock-and-key systems in sexual reproduction
• Project/Area Number: 16H06470
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (Research in a proposed research area)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Review Section: Biological Sciences
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Watanabe Masao 東北大学, 生命科学研究科, 教授 (90240522)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 鈴木 剛 大阪教育大学, 教育学部, 教授 (10314444) ; 諏訪部 圭太 三重大学, 生物資源学研究科, 准教授 (50451612)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-06-30 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: アブラナ科植物 / 雌雄間自他識別システム / 複二倍対種形成 / 生殖隔離 / 花粉と柱頭との相互作用 / 給水と花粉発芽・花粉管伸長 / 一側性不和合性

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The objective of this study was to identify "key molecules" that function in the reproductive process of plants. Unilateral incompatibility in Japanese and Turkish lines of Brassica rapa, which are the same species, is due to the duplication of the self-incompatibility locus. It was clarified that after the gene duplication, unilateral incompatibility was caused by the gain or loss of function of the female factor. Furthermore, B. napus is a diploid of B. oleracea and B. rapa, and not only the self-incompatibility factor but also other factors regulate the incompatibility, suggesting that genome reorganization and epigenetic regulation occurred during the process of diploid stabilization, resulting in a complex genetic phenomenon.

Free Research Field

植物遺伝育種学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

植物の生殖過程、特に「花粉と柱頭との相互作用」を解明することは、雌雄因子がどのような「鍵と鍵穴」分子を利用し、「鍵と鍵穴」を形成することで、「花粉と柱頭との相互作用」を制御しているかを理解できる。また、受粉反応はF1雑種育種を効率的に行うために重要であり、採種産業の発展にもこの成果は貢献している。