Developmental transcriptional profiling of Triticeae reproductive development

Despite their importance, there remains a paucity of large scale expression-based studies of reproductive development in the species belonging to the Triticeae. As a first step to address this deficiency, a gene expression atlas of triticale reproductive development was generated using the 55K Affymetrix GeneChip® Wheat Genome Array. The global transcriptional profiles of the anther/pollen, ovary and stigma were analyzed at concurrent developmental stages and co-regulated as well as preferentially expressed genes were identified. Data analysis revealed both novel and conserved regulatory factors underlying Triticeae floral development and function. Triticale reproductive tissues (anther, ovary, stigma) were collected at 4 successive stages using pollen development as a developmental reference: tetrad (TET), uninucleate microspore (UNM), bi-cellular pollen (BCP), and tri-cellular pollen (TCP). Mature pollen grains (MPG) were also collected. Three biological replicates were analyzed for each tissue using the 55K Affymetrix GeneChip® Wheat Genome Array.