Ultrastructural studies on the expression mechanism of male sterility in Cryptomeria japonica

采用细胞生物学和分子生物学的方法研究了柳杉花粉发育过程和雄性不育的发生机制。研究了在日本新田发现的4株雄性不育的日本杉树花粉退化导致雄性不育的模式，如减数分裂缺陷、单个小孢子与四分体分离失败、小孢子发育异常等。另外，从粳稻中分离到了两个编码钾膜转运蛋白的基因。对这些基因的分析表明，它们与雄性视锥细胞钾的吸收或释放有关。

The process of pollen development and the mechanism of male sterility in Cryptomeria japonica were studied using cytobiological and molecular approaches. The patterns of pollen degeneration causing male sterility such as defects in meiosis, failure in separation of individual microspores from tetrads, and abnormal microspore development were clarified in four male-sterile C. japonica trees found in Niigata, Japan. In addition, two genes encoding potassium membrane transport proteins were isolated from C. japonica. Analyses of these genes indicated that they were involved in the uptake or release of cellular potassium in male cones.