JXB Advance Access originally published online on November 28, 2003
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Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol. 55, No. 394, pp. 145-146, January 1, 2004
© 2004 Oxford University Press
GENE NOTE |
The rice pyruvate decarboxylase 3 gene, which lacks introns, is transcribed in mature pollen*
Received 17 July 2003; Accepted 7 October 2003
1 Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo,Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
2 Research Institute of Flower Biotechnology, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
3 Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
* The nucleotide sequence data reported here were deposited in DDBJ under the accession number AB111050. These authors contributed equally to this work. Present address: School of Agriculture, Meijo University, 1-501 Shiogamaguchi, Tenpaku-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 468-8502, Japan. 
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Fax: +81 3 5841 5183. E-mail: anakazo{at}mail.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
The rice pyruvate decarboxylase 3 gene (PDC3), which has no introns, was previously postulated to be a pseudogene because no PDC3 mRNA had been detected, even under anaerobic conditions. However, in this study, it was found that rice PDC3 transcripts accumulated in panicles after heading. Within anthers obtained from the panicles, PDC3 was shown to be transcribed in mature pollen by in situ hybridization. These results suggest that the rice PDC3 is a functional gene. Its product may play a role in aerobic alcoholic fermentation in mature pollen.
Key words: Alcoholic fermentation, intron-less gene, Oryza sativa, pollen, pyruvate decarboxylase.