| Abstract Detail
Pollen Biology Kessler, Sharon [1], Escobar, Juan-Miguel [2], Grossniklaus, Ueli [2]. Cell-to-cell communication in pollen tube reception at the female gametophyte. During plant reproduction the male gametophyte (pollen) interacts with both sporophytic and gametophytic tissues of the female reproductive organs: the pollen is recognized at the stigma, germinates, grows through style and transmitting tract and finally into the micropyle of the ovule, attracted by a chemotactic signal produced by the female gametophyte. The final step of pollination is the reception of the pollen tube at one of the synergid cells that flank the egg cell followed by the cessation of pollen tube growth and subsequent rupture to release the sperm so that double fertilization can occur. Thus, successful fertilization depends on intercellular signaling processes at several different points during pollination. In Arabidopsis thaliana feronia (fer) mutants, the early stages of pollination are normal, but upon reaching the synergid the pollen tubes continue to grow instead of bursting to release the sperm. FERONIA encodes a receptor-like kinase that is expressed in synergid cells in the female gametophyte. The protein is concentrated in the membrane-rich region at the bottom of the synergid cell known as the filliform apparatus. We predict that FER is responsible for setting off signal transduction cascades upon binding of a ligand from the growing pollen tube. Progress towards identifying other members of this FER signaling pathway will be presented.
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1 - University of Zurich, Institute for Plant Biology, Zollikerstrasse 107, Zurich, CH-8008, Switzerland
2 - University of Zurich, Institute for Plant Biology
Keywords:
pollination
receptor kinase
synergid
fertilization
FERONIA
pollen tube.
Presentation Type: ASPB Minisymposium
Session: M12
Location: Waldorf Room/Hilton
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2007
Time: 9:20 AM
Number: M12003
Abstract ID:656 |
