Reproductive development, both in animals and plants, is accompanied by drastic changes in metabolism for plentiful supply of nutrients and thus requires its appropriate regulation. In flowering plants, the anther exhibits a four-layered structure composed of the epidermis, endothecium, middle layer, and tapetum. Of these layers, the tapetum provides metabolites and nutrients to pollen grains, microspores, and the pollen coat during their development.
Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved system for degradation and recycling of nutrient, thus autophagy is required for normal development in eukaryotes. Autophagosome-like structures, including dense globular bodies enclosed within the vacuoles, are detected in the tapetum during the uninucleate stage (Kurusu et al., 2014).