Fig. 5
Fertility analysis of Oat-like rice. a-d Characterization of male fertility in NIP (a and b) and Oat-like rice (c and d). a and c I2-KI staining of pollen grains from NIP (a) and Oat-like rice (c). Red arrowheads indicate aborted pollen grains, green arrows indicate normal pollen grains (a and c). b and d Pollen in vitro germination assay of NIP (b) and Oat-like rice (d). Blue arrows indicate germinated pollen grains with pollen tubes (b and d). e Comparison of pollen fertility and pollen germination rate between NIP and Oat-like rice. f-i Comparison of mature embryo sacs between NIP (f) and Oat-like rice (g-i) by paraffin sections. f-i Longitudinal sections of mature carpels from NIP (f) and Oat-like rice (g-i). The green arrow in f indicates normal and mature embryo sac; the red arrow in g indicates shrinked embryo sac; orange arrowheads in h and i indicate that embryo sacs did not develop and were replaced with an abnormally proliferated nucellus. j Comparison of seed setting rate between NIP and Oat-like rice. Data presented are mean values ± SDs [n = 12 replicates in e; n = 24 replicates in j.]. Student’s t-test: ***p < 0.001. Bars: (a-d) 200 μm; (f-i) 100 μm