A rice GDSL esterase/lipase protein (GELP) is required for anther and pollen development

Male reproductive development is vital for crop seed production. However, the mechanism underlying remains largely unknown. Here, we isolated a male sterile mutant osgelp34-1 in rice. Cytological analysis indicated that the mutant exhibited delayed degradation of anther wall layers and abnormal pollen development, which resulted in the production of shrunk and non-viable pollen grains. MutMap and CRISPR/Cas9 analysis confirmed that a point mutation in OsGELP34 is responsible for the male sterile phenotype. OsGELP34 is highly expressed in reproductive tissues and encodes a putative GDSL lipase. OsGELP34 protein is located to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and conserved in land plants. Collectively, our findings elaborated that OsGELP34 plays a vital role in rice male reproduction and has potential applications in rice hybrid breeding.