LAUSR

Pollen development is a crucial biological process indispensable for seed set of flowering plants and for successful crop breeding. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms regulating pollen development in crop species. This study reports a novel male-sterile tomato mutant, pollen deficient 2 (pod2), characterized by the production of non-viable pollen grains resulting in the development of small parthenocarpic fruits. A combined strategy of mapping-by-sequencing and RNA interference-mediated gene silencing was used to prove that the pod2 phenotype is caused by the loss of Solanum lycopersicum G-type lectin receptor kinase II.9 (SlG-LecRK-II.9) activity. In situ hybridization of floral buds showed that POD2/SlG-LecRK-II.9 is specifically expressed in tapetal cells and microspores at late tetrad stage. Accordingly, abnormalities in meiosis and tapetum programed cell death in pod2 occurred during microsporogenesis, which results in the formation of four dysfunctional microspores leading to an aberrant microgametogenesis process. RNA-seq analyses supported the existence of alterations at the final stage of microsporogenesis, since we found tomato de-regulated genes whose counterparts in Arabidopsis are essential for the normal progression of male meiosis and cytokinesis. Collectively, results revealed the essential role of POD2/SlG-LecRK-II.9 in regulating tomato pollen development.