Mechanical contribution of germ cell specification in <i>Arabidopsis</i> anthers
A central question in developmental biology is how germ lines are established. We studied the specification of male germ cells (GCs) within the anther. Here, we focused on the potential role of mechanics, an aspect of anther development that has been very poorly characterized. Using a combination of live imaging and mechanical measurements, we showed that GCs emerge within a special micromechanical niche, where the inner tissues exert pressure on the outer cell layers, placing themselves under compression. Mechanical perturbations impair tissue expansion patterns and severely compromise GC specification. Further investigations revealed that the master genetic regulator SPOROCYTELESS/NOZZLE (SPL/NZZ) was central in establishing this micromechanical environment via cell wall softening. In turn, the mechanical cues stabilized the transcription of <i>SPL/NZZ</i>. Here, we propose an intrinsic growth-derived mechanochemical feedback loop that safeguards the fate of GCs.
Authors
- Shu‐Nong Bai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9521-4073)
- Feng Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5180-2095)
- Liang Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2750-5618)
- Kexin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7511-0000)
- Limei Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0545-9334)
- Yafeng Zheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1132-3433)
- Lin Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8014-8296)
- Xiao Liu
- Hua Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4713-4631)
- Wenqian Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6675-8987)
- Pan Wang
- Jiazheng Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2001-1597)
- Chan Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6123-0529)
- Yuting Han
- Zhishuai Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0383-4811)
- Bo Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6056-3698)
- Hui Shi
Institutions
- Northwestern Polytechnical University (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Genomics (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Protein and Plant Gene Research
- Beihang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science Advances
- Published
- 2025-10-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ady7872
- Primary Topic
- Plant Molecular Biology Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00