Identification, Gene Structure, and Expression of : A Gene Upregulated in Embryogenic Microspores.

Microspores of can be diverted from normal pollen development into embryogenesis by treating them with a mild heat shock. As microspore embryogenesis closely resembles zygotic embryogenesis, it is used as model for studying the molecular mechanisms controlling embryo formation. A previous study comparing the transcriptomes of three-day-old sorted embryogenic and pollen-like (non-embryogenic) microspores identified a gene homologous to of unknown function that was upregulated 8-fold in the embryogenic cells.