Abstract: The development of tapetum and pollen in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. ) harboring a chimaeric gene TA29-Barnase was compared with that of the wild-type plant. The specific expression of the exogenous genes in anther led to premature tapetal degradation, which started at the early stage of meiosis and terminated at the tetrad stage. In the wild-type anthers, tapetal degradation started at the early stage of bicellular microgametophyte and ended at the later stage of pollen development. The cytological changes of tapetal degradation in the transgenic plants were characterized by vacuolization of the tapetal cells, then nuclear condensation, and consequent massive degradation of tapetal cells. Meanwhile, the pollen mother cells gradually degraded and became destroyed along with the progress of meiosis, leaving only a few which could successfully complete their meiosis to form microspores. This observation also indicated that the TA29-Barnase gene in anther was not uniformly expressed. In addition, the structural difference between the male sterility induced by exogenous gene and the natural sterile was also discussed.

Key words: Tobacco, Genetic engineering, Male sterile, Tapetum-specific expression, Rnase