HDA6-mediated histone deacetylation restricts premature tapetal PCD to maintain male fertility during early flowering in Arabidopsis

Authors

Hu, K., Weng, X., Zhou, L., Chen, J., Duan, C.-G., Zhao, L., Yan, H., WANG, H.

Abstract

Histone deacetylation regulates plant development, yet its role in male gametophyte development and fertility remains unclear. Here, we show that histone deacetylase 6 (HDA6), an RPD3-like histone deacetylase, epigenetically regulates timely tapetal programmed cell death (PCD) and male fertility, predominantly during early flowering in Arabidopsis. Loss of HDA6 in axe1-4 causes early-stage male sterility followed by fertility recovery, accompanied by premature tapetal PCD, impaired pollen development and defective pollen wall formation. HDA6 interacts with squamosa promoter binding protein-like 8 (SPL8) to repress Arabidopsis NAC domain containing protein 087 (ANAC087) through H3K9/K14 deacetylation. In axe1-4, ANAC087 derepression activates cysteine endopeptidase 1 (CEP1), triggering precocious tapetal PCD. Genetic suppression of ANAC087 or CEP1 restores male fertility. Thus, HDA6-SPL8 establishes a stage-dependent epigenetic checkpoint that restrains the ANAC087-CEP1 cell death pathway and ensures timely tapetal PCD. Our study reveals how chromatin regulation integrates with developmental timing to safeguard plant male fertility.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 19 Sep 2026.

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