Pollen Germination and Tube Growth
Pollen Germination and Tube Growth
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DOI:
10.1007/978-3-642-02301-9_13
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发表时间:
2010
影响因子:
--
通讯作者:
Dongqiao Shi;W. Yang
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Dongqiao Shi;W. Yang
In higher plants, the sexual organs, e.g. anther and pistil, are separated spatially either within a flower in hermaphrodite plants or in different flowers as in monoecious plants. Successful fertilization requires temporally and spatially coordinated development of male and female organs and gametophytes. Mechanisms have also been evolved to ensure pollen survival in harsh environments and to deliver the male gametes to the female gametophyte enclosed within the ovule, which in turn is embedded in the pistil. Furthermore, crosstalk between the male and female gametophytes ensures the success of fertilization that occurs at high efficiency and in a controlled manner.The advent of multicellular gametophyte and siphonogamy in higher plants is instrumental in improving efficiency of sexual reproduction. In species with tricellular pollen grains, like Arabidopsis and rice, mature pollen grains are composed of two small sperm cells and a large vegetative cell. However, in tobacco, maize and other species with bicellular pollen grains, mature pollen grains contain a large vegetative cell and a small generative cell that will precede the last mitosis to produce two sperm cells in the pollen tube. The pollen tube, a tubular structure that originates from the vegetative cell, will deliver the two sperms to the female gametophyte, a phenomenon called siphonogamy (Fig. 13.1). In addition to the cells in pollen grains, specialized pollen walls have been developed to protect the male gametes and to meet the requirement for dispersal and interaction with the pistil. With respect to the female gametophyte, it is composed typically of seven cells, namely an egg cell, two synergids, a central cell and three antipodal cells that often degenerate before fertilization (Yang and Sundaresan 2000). The egg, together with central cell and synergids, forms a functional female germ unit (FGU) to fulfil the task of pollen tube attraction, sperm release and transportation, and double fertilization. This chapter reviews our current understanding of pollen germination and tube growth, with a focus on Arabidopsis and other model species.