BURSTING POLLEN
            is required to organize the pollen germination plaque and pollen tube tip in
            Arabidopsis thaliana

AbstractMature pollen germinates rapidly on the stigma, extending its pollen tube to deliver sperm cells to the ovule for fertilization. The success of this process is an important factor that limits output. The flavonoid content increased significantly during pollen germination and pollen tube growth, which suggests it may play an important role in these processes. However, the specific mechanism of this involvement has been little researched. Our previous research found that hyperoside can prolong the flowering period of Abelmoschus esculentus (okra), but its specific mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, in this study, we focused on the effect of hyperoside in regulating the actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF), which further affects the germination and growth of pollen. We found that hyperoside can prolong the effective pollination period of okra by 2–3-fold and promote the growth of pollen tubes in the style. Then, we used Nicotiana benthamiana cells as a research system and found that hyperoside accelerates the depolymerization of intercellular microfilaments. Hyperoside can promote pollen germination and pollen tube elongation in vitro. Moreover, AeADF1 was identified out of all AeADF genes as being highly expressed in pollen tubes in response to hyperoside. In addition, hyperoside promoted AeADF1-mediated microfilament dissipation according to microfilament severing experiments in vitro. In the pollen tube, the gene expression of AeADF1 was reduced to 1/5 by oligonucleotide transfection. The decrease in the expression level of AeADF1 partially reduced the promoting effect of hyperoside on pollen germination and pollen tube growth. This research provides new research directions for flavonoids in reproductive development.

Download Full-text

Two Expansin Genes, AtEXPA4 and AtEXPB5, Are Redundantly Required for Pollen Tube Growth and AtEXPA4 Is Involved in Primary Root Elongation in Arabidopsis thaliana

Genes ◽

10.3390/genes12020249 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

pp. 249

Author(s):

Weimiao Liu ◽

Liai Xu ◽

Hui Lin ◽

Jiashu Cao

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Pollen Tube ◽

Pollen Tube Growth ◽

Cell Walls ◽

Root Elongation ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Primary Root ◽

Pollen Grains ◽

Tube Growth ◽

Cell Wall Binding

The growth of plant cells is inseparable from relaxation and expansion of cell walls. Expansins are a class of cell wall binding proteins, which play important roles in the relaxation of cell walls. Although there are many members in expansin gene family, the functions of most expansin genes in plant growth and development are still poorly understood. In this study, the functions of two expansin genes, AtEXPA4 and AtEXPB5 were characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana. AtEXPA4 and AtEXPB5 displayed consistent expression patterns in mature pollen grains and pollen tubes, but AtEXPA4 also showed a high expression level in primary roots. Two single mutants, atexpa4 and atexpb5, showed normal reproductive development, whereas atexpa4atexpb5 double mutant was defective in pollen tube growth. Moreover, AtEXPA4 overexpression enhanced primary root elongation, on the contrary, knocking out AtEXPA4 made the growth of primary root slower. Our results indicated that AtEXPA4 and AtEXPB5 were redundantly involved in pollen tube growth and AtEXPA4 was required for primary root elongation.

Download Full-text

Persistent directional growth capability in Arabidopsis thaliana pollen tubes after nuclear elimination from the apex

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-22661-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Kazuki Motomura ◽

Hidenori Takeuchi ◽

Michitaka Notaguchi ◽

Haruna Tsuchi ◽

Atsushi Takeda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Pollen Tube ◽

Sperm Cell ◽

Pollen Tubes ◽

Vegetative Nucleus ◽

Sperm Cells ◽

Apical Region ◽

Basal Region ◽

Specific Expression ◽

Directional Growth

AbstractDuring the double fertilization process, pollen tubes deliver two sperm cells to an ovule containing the female gametes. In the pollen tube, the vegetative nucleus and sperm cells move together to the apical region where the vegetative nucleus is thought to play a crucial role in controlling the direction and growth of the pollen tube. Here, we report the generation of pollen tubes in Arabidopsis thaliana whose vegetative nucleus and sperm cells are isolated and sealed by callose plugs in the basal region due to apical transport defects induced by mutations in the WPP domain-interacting tail-anchored proteins (WITs) and sperm cell-specific expression of a dominant mutant of the CALLOSE SYNTHASE 3 protein. Through pollen-tube guidance assays, we show that the physiologically anuclear mutant pollen tubes maintain the ability to grow and enter ovules. Our findings provide insight into the sperm cell delivery mechanism and illustrate the independence of the tip-localized vegetative nucleus from directional growth control of the pollen tube.

Download Full-text