Ultrastructural Aspects of the Self-Incompatibility Mechanism in Lycopersicum Peruvianum Mill

1973 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. DE NETTANCOURT ◽  
M. DEVREUX ◽  
A. BOZZINI ◽  
M. CRESTI ◽  
E. PACINI ◽  
...  

The experimental results obtained show that the tip of the incompatible pollen tube bursts open after the outer-wall has considerably expanded in the intercellular spaces of the conducting tissue and the inner-wall has disappeared and numerous particles have accumulated in the tube cytoplasm. These particles, which measure approximately 0.2 µm in diameter and give a weak reaction to the test of Thiéry, differ in many respects from the vesicles normally present in compatible pollen tubes growing through the style; they appear to resemble, in some cases, the spheres which are discharged by the compatible pollen tubes after they have reached the embryo-sac. It is considered that these observations support the current belief that the tube wall is the site of action for the incompatibility proteins and suggest that self-incompatibility is not a passive process resulting from lack of growth stimulation but an active event which leads to the destruction of the incompatible pollen tubes. The degradation mechanism involved appears similar to the one which enables the compatible pollen tube to release its contents in the degenerated synergid and presents some analogies with the lytic process taking place in virus-infected cells. The general hypothesis is presented that the particles observed in the cytoplasm of self-incompatible pollen tubes consist of a mixture of incompatibility proteins and of basic constituents of the tube wall.

1993 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. 814-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl R. Hampson ◽  
Anita Nina Azarenko ◽  
Al Soeldner

Scanning electron microscopy was used to describe pollen-stigma interactions during compatible and incompatible pollinations of hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.), a species possessing sporophytic self-incompatibility. The stigmatic surface is of the dry type and was covered with elongated, rounded papillae. Compatible and incompatible pollen hydrated within 2 hours of pollination. Compatible pollen tubes emerged by 4 hours and grew into the style by 12 hours after pollination. Penetration of stigmatic papillae appeared to be intracellular in some cases. In incompatible pollinations, however, pollen tube emergence was delayed until at least 8 hours. The pollen tubes were distorted and did not penetrate the stigma.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frédérique Rozier ◽  
Lucie Riglet ◽  
Chie Kodera ◽  
Vincent Bayle ◽  
Eléonore Durand ◽  
...  

AbstractEarly events occurring at the surface of the female organ are critical for plant reproduction, especially in species with a dry stigma. Following landing on the stigmatic papilla cells, the pollen hydrates and germinates a tube, which penetrates the cell wall and grows towards the ovules to convey the male gametes to the embryo sac. In self-incompatible (SI) species within the Brassicaceae, these processes are blocked when the stigma encounters an incompatible pollen. Here, based on the generation of SI-Arabidopsis lines and by setting up a live imaging system, we showed that control of pollen hydration has a central role in pollen selectivity. The faster pollen pumps water from the papilla during an initial period of 10 minutes, the faster it germinates. Furthermore, we found that the SI barriers act to block the proper hydration of incompatible pollen and when hydration is promoted by high humidity, an additional control prevents pollen tube penetration into the stigmatic wall. In papilla cells, actin bundles focalize at the contact site with the compatible pollen but not with the incompatible one, raising the possibility that stigmatic cells react to the mechanical pressure applied by the invading growing tube.HighlightA live imaging system coupled with self-incompatible Arabidopsis lines highlight the role of stigmatic cells in controlling pollen hydration and in reacting to pollen tube intrusion by remodeling actin cytoskeleton.


2013 ◽  
Vol 40 (No. 2) ◽  
pp. 65-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Milatović ◽  
D. Nikolić ◽  
B. Krška

Self-(in)compatibility was tested in 40 new apricot cultivars from European breeding programmes. Pollen-tube growth in pistils from laboratory pollinations was analysed using the fluorescence microscopy. Cultivars were considered self-compatible if at least one pollen tube reached the ovary in the majority of pistils. Cultivars were considered self- incompatible if the growth of pollen tubes in the style stopped along with formation of characteristic swellings. Of the examined cultivars, 18 were self-compatible and 22 were self-incompatible. Fluorescence microscopy provides a relatively rapid and reliable method to determine self-incompatibility in apricot cultivars.      


1986 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 413 ◽  
Author(s):  
EG Williams ◽  
V Kaul ◽  
JL Rouse ◽  
BF Palser

Frequent overgrowths of pollen tubes within the embryo sac are characteristic of a number of interspecific crosses in the genus Rhododendron (Ericaceae). The combined techniques of sectioning, squashing and whole-ovule clearing have confirmed that in ovules showing this phenomenon the pollen tube fails to terminate growth and release sperms on entry into a synergid; instead it continues to grow beyond the synergid and egg cell, often filling the main body of the embryo sac with a coiled and distorted mass. Such ovules fail to develop further. The occurrence and possible causes of this error syndrome are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun Kyung Lee ◽  
Daphne R. Goring

SummaryIn flowering plants, continuous cell-cell communication between the compatible male pollen grain/growing pollen tube and the female pistil is required for successful sexual reproduction. In Arabidopsis thaliana, the later stages of this dialogue are mediated by several peptide ligands and receptor kinases that guide pollen tubes to the ovules for the release of sperm cells. Despite a detailed understanding of these processes, a key gap remains on the nature of the regulators that function at the earlier stages. Here, we report on two groups of A. thaliana receptor kinases, the LRR-VIII-2 RK subclass and the SERKs, that function in the female reproductive tract to regulate the compatible pollen grains and early pollen tube growth, both essential steps for the downstream processes leading to fertilization. Multiple A. thaliana LRR-VIII-2 RK and SERK knockout mutant combinations were created, and several phenotypes were observed such as reduced wild-type pollen hydration and reduced pollen tube travel distances. As these mutant pistils displayed a wild-type morphology, the observed altered responses of the wild-type pollen are proposed to result from the loss of these receptor kinases leading to an impaired pollen-pistil dialogue at these early stages. Furthermore, using pollen from related Brassicaceae species, we also discovered that these receptor kinases are required in the female reproductive tract to establish a reproductive barrier to interspecies pollen. Thus, we propose that the LRR-VIII-2 RKs and the SERKs play a dual role in the preferential selection and promotion of intraspecies pollen over interspecies pollen.


Pollen extracts of four different incompatibility genotypes S 2.4 , S 2.6 , S 3.4 , S 3.6 of Oenothera organensis were injected into rabbits to produce antisera. All the unabsorbed antisera gave precipitin reactions with all pollen extracts but the homologous extracts gave stronger reactions. Antisera which had been fully absorbed with pollen extracts heterologous in respect of S alleles gave strong reactions only with extracts which had S alleles in common with the antisera. The results of twenty-five different combinatorial tests, with the exception of two cross reactions, agree with the theory that the S alleles produce specific substances in the pollen each of which is antigenically different. Stigmas pollinated twice at a 4 hour interval with incompatible pollen showed that the pollen tubes from the second pollination were not affected by the presence of the first lot. This shows that the stylar incompatibility substance is pre-formed and is not the result of an antigenic stimulus from the pollen tubes. Pollen-tube inhibitions in the style due to the incompatibility reaction is complete and irreversible at 31°C in 30 min and after 0⋅2 to 0⋅3 mm growth.


Examination of the behaviour of pollen on the style of Raphanus , following compatible and incompatible intraspecific pollinations, has revealed the self-incompatibility system in this species to be composed of at least three stages. The first, on which no information has been obtained in this study, involves the germination of the grain. The second stage concerns the ability of the pollen tube to penetrate the cuticle of the stigmatic papilla. It is possible that cutinase is deficient in incompatible pollen tubes but, in most instances, the outer layers of the stigmatic wall are penetrated. The third stage involves the interaction of substances secreted by the pollen tube with products of the stigmatic cytoplasm. The interaction is swiftly followed by the deposition, in the stigma, of a layered callosic body. This is formed immediately under the point of penetration and takes about 6 h to develop fully. Development of the pollen tube ceases as the first layers of callose are laid down. It is possible that the substances in the pollen responsible for the initiation of the second two stages are held in the tapetally synthesized tryphine, thus accounting for the sporophytic control of pollen compatibility in this species. The mature stigma contains large numbers of crystalline protein bodies, but it is not known whether they play any role in the self-incompatibility system.


HortScience ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra M. Reed

Low seed set has been reported following self-pollinations of flowering dogwood (Cornus florida L.). The objective of this study was to verify the presence of self-incompatibility in C. florida. `Cherokee Princess' stigmas and styles were collected 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after cross- and self-pollinations, stained with aniline blue and observed using a fluorescence microscope. Pollen germinated freely following self-pollinations, but self-pollen tubes grew slower than those resulting from cross-pollinations. By 48 hours after cross-pollination, pollen tubes had reached the bottom of the style while pollen tubes in self-pollinated flowers had only penetrated the upper third of the style. Evidence of reduced pollen tube growth rate in self-pollinations of `Cherokee Chief' and `Cherokee Brave' was also obtained. This study provides evidence of a gametophytic self-incompatibity system in C. florida. It was also determined that stigmas of C. florida `Cherokee Princess' are receptive to pollen from 1 day prior to anthesis to 1 day after anthesis.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1758
Author(s):  
Mariana Oliveira Duarte ◽  
Denise Maria Trombert Oliveira ◽  
Eduardo Leite Borba

In most species of Pleurothallidinae, the self-incompatibility site occurs in the stylar canal inside the column, which is typical of gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI). However, in some species of Acianthera, incompatible pollen tubes with anomalous morphology reach the ovary, as those are obstructed in the column. We investigated if a distinct self-incompatibility (SI) system is acting on the ovary of A. johannensis, which is a species with partial self-incompatibility, contrasting with a full SI species, A. fabiobarrosii. We analyzed the morphology and development of pollen tubes in the column, ovary, and fruit using light, epifluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy. Our results show that the main reaction site in A. johannensis is in the stylar canal inside the column, which was also recorded in A. fabiobarrosii. Morphological and cytological characteristics of the pollen tubes with obstructed growth in the column indicated a process of programmed cell death in these tubes, showing a possible GSI reaction. In addition, partially self-incompatible individuals of A. johannensis exhibit a second SI site in the ovary. We suggest that this self-incompatibility site in the ovary is only an extension of GSI that acts in the column, differing from the typical late-acting self-incompatibility system recorded in other plant groups.


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