Nature Communications (Feb 2018)
Deficiency of a triterpene pathway results in humidity-sensitive genic male sterility in rice
Abstract
In flowering plants, the pollen coat surrounds the male germ cells and protects against dehydration, damage and pathogen attack. Here, the authors show that a deficiency in terpenoid synthesis results in rice pollen over-dehydration and leads to a humidity-sensitive conditional male sterile phenotype.