ABSTRACT
Introduction Arabidopsis owers are organized into four concentric whorls of distinct organs (sepals, petals, stamens and pistils). Stamens, the male reproductive organs of owering plants, form the third whorl. Processes of stamen lament elongation and anthesis are precisely controlled so that they coincide with the pistil development to determine the fertility [1]. Mutations that impair stamen development such as lament elongation, pollen maturation or anther dehiscence will result in male sterility [2],[3]. Many genes have been found to control stamen development [4],[5]. Stamen development is also subjected to hormonal control. For example, mutations aecting biosynthesis of two plant hormones gibberellin (GA) (e.g ga1-3 mutation) and jasmonate (JA) (e.g opr3 mutation) both confer male sterile phenotype due to failure of stamen lament elongation and of completion of anthesis and anther dehiscence [6],[7].
