A novel rice bHLH transcription factor, DTD, acts coordinately with TDR in controlling tapetum function and pollen development.

Dear Editor, Male reproductive development is an essential biological process for flowering plants and crucial for crop seed production.Formation of the male reproductive organ,the anther,involves a number of developmental events,including stamen meristem specification,generation of sporogenous cells and their differentiation into microspore mother cells (MMCs),meiosis,microspore (pollen) maturation,and pollination (Ma,2005).The formation of microspores and their development into mature pollen grains require cooperative interactions between gametophytic (microspores) and sporophytic (anther wall) cells,with the innermost cell layer,the tapetum,playing the most crucial role (Ma,2005).Tapetal cells undergo degeneration by programmed cell death (PCD).