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Abstract Key messagePollen tubes from closely related species and mutants lacking pollen tube MYB transcription factors are able to initiate FER/LRE-dependent synergid cell calcium oscillations. AbstractReproductive isolation leads to the evolution of new species; however, the molecular mechanisms that maintain reproductive barriers between sympatric species are not well defined. In flowering plants, sperm cells are immotile and are delivered to female gametes by the pollen grain. After landing on the stigmatic surface, the pollen grain germinates a polarized extension, the pollen tube, into floral tissue. After growing via polar extension to the female gametes and shuttling its cargo of sperm cells through its cytoplasm, the pollen tube signals its arrival and identity to synergid cells that flank the egg. If signaling is successful, the pollen tube and receptive synergid cell burst, and sperm cells are released for fusion with female gametes. To better understand cell–cell recognition during reproduction and how reproductive barriers are maintained between closely related species, pollen tube-initiated synergid cell calcium ion dynamics were examined during interspecific crosses. It was observed that interspecific pollen tubes successfully trigger synergid cell calcium oscillations—a hallmark of reproductive success—but signaling fails downstream of key signaling genes and sperm are not released. This work further defines pollen tube–synergid cell signaling as a critical block to interspecific hybridization and suggests that the FERONIA/LORELEI signaling mechanism plays multiple parallel roles during pollen tube reception.
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Signaling at Physical Barriers during Pollen–Pistil Interactions
In angiosperms, double fertilization requires pollen tubes to transport non-motile sperm to distant egg cells housed in a specialized female structure known as the pistil, mediating the ultimate fusion between male and female gametes. During this journey, the pollen tube encounters numerous physical barriers that must be mechanically circumvented, including the penetration of the stigmatic papillae, style, transmitting tract, and synergid cells as well as the ultimate fusion of sperm cells to the egg or central cell. Additionally, the pollen tube must maintain structural integrity in these compact environments, while responding to positional guidance cues that lead the pollen tube to its destination. Here, we discuss the nature of these physical barriers as well as efforts to genetically and cellularly identify the factors that allow pollen tubes to successfully, specifically, and quickly circumnavigate them.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1947741
- PAR ID:
- 10331491
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences
- Volume:
- 22
- Issue:
- 22
- ISSN:
- 1422-0067
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 12230
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222212230
