Identification of Candidate Genes Involved in the Determinism of Pollen Grain Aperture Morphology by Comparative Transcriptome Analysis in Papaveraceae

In the last decade, certain genes involved in pollen aperture formation have been discovered. However, those involved in pollen aperture shape remain largely unknown. In Arabidopsis, the interaction during the tetrad development stage of one member of the ELMOD protein family, ELMOD_E, with two others, MCR/ELMOD_B and ELMOD_A, can change the morphology of apertures from colpus (elongated) to pore (round). Here, comparative transcriptome analysis is used to identify candidate genes involved in the determination of pollen aperture morphology in Papaveraceae (order Ranunculales). Furthermore, the role of ELMOD genes in the genetic determinism of aperture shape was tested by comparative analysis of their expression levels using RNA-seq data and RT-qPCR. Two pairs of species belonging to two different subfamilies were used. Within each pair, one species has colpate pollen and the other porate (Fumarioideae—Dactylicapnos torulosa, 6-colpate, and Fumaria bracteosa, pantoporate; Papaveroideae—Eschsholzia californica, 5–7 colpate, and Roemeria refracta, 6-porate). The transcriptomes were obtained at the tetrad stage of pollen development. A total of 531 DEGs were found between the colpate and porate pollen species groups. The results from RNA-seq and RT-qPCR indicate that pollen aperture shape is not determined by the relative expression levels of ELMOD family genes in Papaveraceae. However, genes related to callose wall formation or cytoskeleton organisation were found, these processes being involved in pollen aperture formation. In addition, transcriptomes from anthers with pollen during the tetrad stage of three species (D. torulosa, R. refracta, and F. bracteosa) were obtained for the first time. These data will be available for further studies in the field of floral evolution and development.