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Journal of Cell Science Jan 2018Pollen tube guidance is a unique navigating system that is required for the successful sexual reproduction of plants. As plant sperm cells are non-motile and egg cells... (Review)
Review
Pollen tube guidance is a unique navigating system that is required for the successful sexual reproduction of plants. As plant sperm cells are non-motile and egg cells are embedded deep inside the female tissues, a pollen tube delivers the two sperm cells that it contains by growing towards the ovule, in which the egg cell resides. Pollen tube growth towards the ovule is precisely controlled and divided into two stages, preovular and ovular guidance. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and accompanying poster, we provide a comprehensive overview of pollen tube guidance and highlight some of the attractant peptides used during ovular guidance. We further discuss the precise one-to-one guidance system that exists in multi-ovular plants. The pollen tube-blocking system, which is mediated by male-female crosstalk communication, to avoid attraction of multiple pollen tubes, is also reviewed.
Topics: Ovule; Peptides; Pollen Tube; Receptors, Cell Surface; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 29378835
DOI: 10.1242/jcs.208447 -
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton,... 2020Mutant phenotype observation is the most useful and important method to study which biological process a gene-of-interest is involved in. In flowering plants, excessive...
Mutant phenotype observation is the most useful and important method to study which biological process a gene-of-interest is involved in. In flowering plants, excessive pollen grains land and germinate on the stigma, then pollen tubes grow through the transmitting tract to reach the ovules, eventually enter the micropyle to complete double fertilization. First, for mutants whose homozygotes could not be obtained due to pollen tube defects, it is difficult to observe the defect phenotype since the pollen grains of different genotypes are mixed together. Here, we provide a detailed protocol to pick out mutant pollen grains from the heterozygous mutant plants in Arabidopsis thaliana. By using this method, we could obtain sufficient mutant pollen grains for phenotypic analysis. Second, it is difficult to compare the pollen/pollen tube behavior of two different genotypes/species in vivo in a same pistil. Here, we develop a new dual staining method which combines GUS staining with aniline blue staining. By using this method, we can analyze the competence of the two different pollen tubes in the same pistil.
Topics: Arabidopsis; Cell Separation; Genetic Techniques; Microscopy, Fluorescence; Mutation; Phenotype; Pollen Tube; Staining and Labeling; Transgenes
PubMed: 32529436
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-0672-8_12 -
ELife Sep 2020The pollen tube in a flowering plant grows in a direction that is influenced by the mechanical properties of the stigma papillae and the organization of structures...
The pollen tube in a flowering plant grows in a direction that is influenced by the mechanical properties of the stigma papillae and the organization of structures called cortical microtubules inside these cells.
Topics: Arabidopsis; Cell Wall; Katanin; Microtubules; Pollen Tube
PubMed: 32867921
DOI: 10.7554/eLife.61647 -
Current Opinion in Plant Biology Oct 2019In flowering plants, extensive male-female interactions during pollen germination on the stigma, pollen tube growth and guidance in the transmitting tract, and pollen... (Review)
Review
In flowering plants, extensive male-female interactions during pollen germination on the stigma, pollen tube growth and guidance in the transmitting tract, and pollen tube reception by the female gametophyte are required for successful double fertilization in which various signaling cascades are involved. Peptide/receptor-like kinase-mediated signaling has been found playing important roles in these male-female interactions. Here, we mainly summarized the progress made on the regulatory roles of peptide/receptor-like kinase-mediated signaling pathways in four critical stages during reproduction in higher plants.
Topics: Female; Male; Ovule; Phosphotransferases; Pollen Tube; Pollination; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 30999163
DOI: 10.1016/j.pbi.2019.03.004 -
The New Phytologist Jan 2018Occam's Razor suggests a new model of pollen tube tip growth based on a novel Hechtian oscillator that integrates a periplasmic arabinogalactan glycoprotein-calcium... (Review)
Review
Occam's Razor suggests a new model of pollen tube tip growth based on a novel Hechtian oscillator that integrates a periplasmic arabinogalactan glycoprotein-calcium (AGP-Ca ) capacitor with tip-localized AGPs as the source of tip-focussed cytosolic Ca oscillations: Hechtian adhesion between the plasma membrane and the cell wall of the growing tip acts as a piconewton force transducer that couples the internal stress of a rapidly growing wall to the plasma membrane. Such Hechtian transduction opens stretch-activated Ca channels and activates H -ATPase proton pump efflux that dissociates periplasmic AGP-Ca resulting in a Ca influx that activates exocytosis of wall precursors. Thus, a highly simplified pectic primary cell wall regulates its own synthesis by a Hechtian growth oscillator that regulates overall tip growth. By analogy with the three cryptic inscriptions of the classical Rosetta Stone, the Hechtian Hypothesis translates classical AGP function as a Ca capacitor, pollen tube guide and wall plasticizer into a simple but widely applicable model of tip growth. Even wider ramifications of the Hechtian oscillator may implicate AGPs in osmosensing or gravisensing and other tropisms, leading us yet further towards the Holy Grail of plant growth.
Topics: Cell Membrane; Galactans; Glycoproteins; Mechanotransduction, Cellular; Models, Biological; Pollen Tube
PubMed: 28990197
DOI: 10.1111/nph.14845 -
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton,... 2019Although many gene transfer methods have been employed for successfully obtaining transgenic cotton, the major constraint in cotton improvement is the limitation of...
Although many gene transfer methods have been employed for successfully obtaining transgenic cotton, the major constraint in cotton improvement is the limitation of genotype because the majority of transgenic methods require plant regeneration from a single transformed cell which is limited by cotton tissue culture. Comparing with other plant species, it is difficult to induce plant regeneration from cotton; currently, only a limited number of cotton cultivars can be cultured for obtaining regenerated plants. Thus, developing a simple and genotype-independent genetic transformation method is particularly interested for cotton. In this chapter, we present a simple, cost-efficient, and genotype-independent cotton transformation method - pollen tube pathway-mediated transformation. This method uses pollen tube pathway to deliver transgene into cotton embryo sacs and then insert foreign genes into cotton genome. There are three major steps for pollen tube pathway-mediated genetic transformation, which include injection of foreign genes into pollen tube, integration of foreign genes into plant genome, and selection of transgenic plants.
Topics: Genotype; Gossypium; Microinjections; Plants, Genetically Modified; Pollen Tube; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Signal Transduction; Transformation, Genetic; Transgenes
PubMed: 30543062
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8952-2_6 -
Science China. Life Sciences Sep 2016Different from animals, sessile plants are equipped with a large receptor-like kinase (RLK) superfamily. RLKs are a family of single trans-membrane proteins with... (Review)
Review
Different from animals, sessile plants are equipped with a large receptor-like kinase (RLK) superfamily. RLKs are a family of single trans-membrane proteins with divergent N-terminal extracellular domains capped by a signal peptide and C-terminal intracellular kinase. Researches in the last two decades have uncovered an increasing number of RLKs that regulate plant development, stress response and sexual reproduction, highlighting a dominant role of RLK signaling in cell-to-cell communications. Sexual reproduction in flowering plants is featured by interactions between the male gametophyte and the female tissues to facilitate sperm delivery and fertilization. Emerging evidences suggest that RLKs regulate almost every aspect of plant reproductive process, especially during pollination. Therefore, in this review we will focus mainly on the function and signaling of RLKs in plant male-female interaction and discuss the future prospects on these topics.
Topics: Flowers; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Models, Biological; Ovule; Plant Proteins; Pollen Tube; Pollination; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Reproduction; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 27525988
DOI: 10.1007/s11427-016-0118-x -
Journal of Experimental Botany Jun 2019The process of plant fertilization provides an outstanding example of refined control of gene expression. During this elegant process, subtle communication occurs... (Review)
Review
The process of plant fertilization provides an outstanding example of refined control of gene expression. During this elegant process, subtle communication occurs between neighboring cells, based on chemical signals, that induces cellular mechanisms of patterning and growth. Having faced an immediate issue of self-incompatibility responses, the pathway to fertilization starts once the stigmatic cells recognize a compatible pollen grain, and it continues with numerous players interacting to affect pollen tube growth and the puzzling process of navigation along the transmitting tract. The pollen tube goes through a guidance process that begins with a preovular stage (i.e. prior to the influence of the target ovule), with interactions with factors from the transmitting tissue. In the subsequent ovular-guidance stage a specific relationship develops between the pollen tube and its target ovule. This stage is divided into the funicular and micropylar guidance steps, with numerous receptors working in signalling cascades. Finally, just after the pollen tube has passed beyond the synergids, fusion of the gametes occurs and the developing seed-the ultimate aim of the process-will start to mature. In this paper, we review the existing knowledge of the crucial biological processes involved in pollen-pistil interactions that give rise to the new seed.
Topics: Cell Communication; Plant Development; Plant Physiological Phenomena; Pollen Tube; Pollination; Seeds
PubMed: 30820535
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erz087 -
Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton,... 2019Transgenic cotton is among the first transgenic plants commercially adopted around the world. Since it was first introduced into the field in the middle of the 1990s,... (Review)
Review
Transgenic cotton is among the first transgenic plants commercially adopted around the world. Since it was first introduced into the field in the middle of the 1990s, transgenic cotton has been quickly adopted by cotton farmers in many developed and developing countries. Transgenic cotton has offered many important environmental, social, and economic benefits, including reduced usage of pesticides, indirect increase of yield, minimizing environmental pollution, and reducing labor and cost. Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation method is the major method for obtaining transgenic cotton. However, pollen tube pathway-mediated method is also used, particularly by scientists in China, to breed commercial transgenic cotton. Although transgenic cotton plants with disease resistance, abiotic stress tolerance, and improved fiber quality have been developed in the past decades, insect-resistant and herbicide-tolerant cottons are the two dominant cottons in transgenic cotton market.
Topics: Adaptation, Biological; Agriculture; Agrobacterium; Environment; Gossypium; Plants, Genetically Modified; Pollen Tube; Signal Transduction; Transfection; Transformation, Genetic; Transgenes
PubMed: 30543057
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8952-2_1 -
Peptides Aug 2021In angiosperm sexual reproduction, the male pollen tube undergoes a series of interactions with female tissues. For efficient growth and precise guidance, the pollen... (Review)
Review
In angiosperm sexual reproduction, the male pollen tube undergoes a series of interactions with female tissues. For efficient growth and precise guidance, the pollen tube perceives extracellular ligands. In recent decades, various types of secreted cysteine-rich peptides (CRPs) have been identified as peptide ligands that regulate diverse angiosperm reproduction processes, including pollen tube germination, growth, guidance, and rupture. Notably, in two distant core eudicot plants, multiple LURE-type CRPs were found to be secreted from egg-accompanying synergid cells, and these CRPs act as a cocktail of pollen tube attractants for the final step of pollen tube guidance. LURE-type CRPs have species-preferential activity, even among close relatives, and exhibit remarkably divergent molecular evolution with conserved cysteine frameworks, demonstrating that they play a key role in species recognition in pollen tube guidance. In this review, I focus on "reproductive CRPs," particularly LURE-type CRPs, which underlie common but species-specific mechanisms in angiosperm sexual reproduction, and discuss their action, functional regulation, receptors, and evolution.
Topics: Cysteine; Peptides; Plant Proteins; Pollen Tube; Pollination; Reproduction; Signal Transduction
PubMed: 34004266
DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2021.170572