A novel Arabidopsis marker line that strongly labels uninucleate microspores and the subsequent male gametophyte development stages

Here is reported a novel histological marker line that strongly and specifically labels the male gametophyte in Arabidopsis flowers, from the uninucleate microspore to the pollination stage. In this marker line, the expression of the UidA and GFP marker genes is driven by the promoter of the At5g17340 Arabidopsis gene, a gene highly expressed in the male gametophyte. Strong GUS histochemical staining is detected in the uninucleate microspores. Strong GUS, and GFP, histological labelling is also detected in the subsequent stages of male gametophyte development. The potential applications of this marker line are discussed. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-237) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.