A single-nucleotide substitution of CjTKPR1 determines pollen production in the gymnosperm plant Cryptomeria japonica

Hiroyuki Kakui; Tokuko Ujino-Ihara; Yoichi Hasegawa; Eriko Tsurisaki; Norihiro Futamura; Junji Iwai; Yuumi Higuchi; Takeshi Fujino; Yutaka Suzuki; Masahiro Kasahara; Katsushi Yamaguchi; Shuji Shigenobu; Masahiro Otani; Masaru Nakano; Masaaki Nameta; Shinsuke Shibata; Saneyoshi Ueno; Yoshinari Moriguchi

doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad236

A single-nucleotide substitution of CjTKPR1 determines pollen production in the gymnosperm plant Cryptomeria japonica

PNAS Nexus. 2023 Aug 8;2(8):pgad236. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad236. eCollection 2023 Aug.

Authors

Hiroyuki Kakui^{1

2}, Tokuko Ujino-Ihara³, Yoichi Hasegawa³, Eriko Tsurisaki¹, Norihiro Futamura³, Junji Iwai⁴, Yuumi Higuchi⁴, Takeshi Fujino⁵, Yutaka Suzuki⁵, Masahiro Kasahara⁵, Katsushi Yamaguchi⁶, Shuji Shigenobu⁶, Masahiro Otani⁷, Masaru Nakano⁷, Masaaki Nameta⁸, Shinsuke Shibata⁸, Saneyoshi Ueno³, Yoshinari Moriguchi⁷

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan.
² Institute for Sustainable Agro-ecosystem Services, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 188-0002, Japan.
³ Department of Forest Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Forest Research and Management Organization, Ibaraki 305-8687, Japan.
⁴ Forest and Forestry Technology Division, Niigata Prefectural Forest Research Institute, Niigata 958-0264, Japan.
⁵ Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba 277-8561, Japan.
⁶ Trans-Scale Biology Center, National Institute for Basic Biology, Aichi 444-8585, Japan.
⁷ Faculty of Agriculture, Niigata University, Niigata 950-2181, Japan.
⁸ Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata 951-8122, Japan.

Abstract

Pollinosis, also known as pollen allergy or hay fever, is a global problem caused by pollen produced by various plant species. The wind-pollinated Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) is the largest contributor to severe pollinosis in Japan, where increasing proportions of people have been affected in recent decades. The MALE STERILITY 4 (MS4) locus of Japanese cedar controls pollen production, and its homozygous mutants (ms4/ms4) show abnormal pollen development after the tetrad stage and produce no mature pollen. In this study, we narrowed down the MS4 locus by fine mapping in Japanese cedar and found TETRAKETIDE α-PYRONE REDUCTASE 1 (TKPR1) gene in this region. Transformation experiments using Arabidopsis thaliana showed that single-nucleotide substitution ("T" to "C" at 244-nt position) of CjTKPR1 determines pollen production. Broad conservation of TKPR1 beyond plant division could lead to the creation of pollen-free plants not only for Japanese cedar but also for broader plant species.

Keywords: Japanese cedar; conifer; gymnosperm; male-sterility; pollen; pollinosis.