In plant reproduction, pollination is the initial key process in bringing together the male and female gametophytes. When a pollen grain lands on the surface of the stigma, information is exchanged between the pollen and stigmatic cell to determine whether the pollen grain will be accepted or rejected. If it is accepted, the stigmatic papilla cell supplies water and other resources to the polle...

Tubulin genes are intimately associated with cell division and cell elongation, which are central to plant secondary cell wall development. However, their roles in pollen tube polar growth remain elusive. Here, a TUA1 gene from Picea wilsonii, which is specifically expressed in pollen, was isolated. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that the amount of PwTUA1 transcript varied at each sta...

Germination ability and airborne counts of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) pollen were studied during the spring of 1993 at Turku in southern Finland (60 degrees 32' N, 22 degrees 28' E) and at Utsjoki in northern Finland (69 degrees 45' N, 27 degrees 01' E). Pollen waas trapped from the beginning of May to the end of June in a high-volume air sampler. Germination tests were performed to deter...

Although "dry-type" stigmas are widely regarded as ancestral in angiosperms, the early-divergent family Annonaceae has copious stigmatic exudate. We evaluate three putative functions for this exudate: as a nutritive reward for pollinators; as a pollen germination medium; and as an extragynoecial compitum that enables pollen tube growth between carpels. Stigmatic exudate is fructose dominated (7...

In plant organs and tissues, the neutral storage lipids are confined to discrete spherical organelles called oil bodies. Oil bodies from plant seeds contain 0.6-3% proteins, including oleosins, steroleosins, and caleosins. In this study, a caleosin isoform of approximately 30 kDa was identified in the olive pollen grain. The protein was mainly located at the boundaries of the oil bodies in the ...

Female reproductive success in females versus hermaphrodites has been well documented. However, documenting a potential advantage in male fertility of male versus hermaphrodite individuals in subdioecious species is also essential for understanding the evolutionary pathway toward dioecy from hermaphroditism via gynodioecy. Siring success in terms of fruit set, fruit mass, number of seeds and me...

Pollen quantity, viability and germination of four genotypes of Rosa dumalis and R. villosa were investigated. The number of anthers per flower were 90.3 in genotype 4 (Rosa villosa) and 116.4 in genotype 1 (Rosa dumalis). Genotype 1 showed the highest pollen viability on the basis of both TTC and IKI tests. Most of the rose species are diploid but there are several species with higher ploidy l...

Vacuoles perform multiple functions in plants, and VCL1 (VACUOLESS1) is essential for biogenesis with loss of expression in the vcl1 mutant leading to lethality. Vacuole biogenesis plays a prominent role in gametophytes, yet is poorly understood. Given the importance of VCL1, we asked if it contributes to vacuole biogenesis during pollen germination. To address this question, it was essential t...

In estuarine wetlands, the daily periodic tidal activity has a profound effect on plant growth and reproduction. We studied the effects of tidal action on pollination and reproductive allocation of Sagittaria graminea. Results showed that the species had very different reproductive allocation in tidal and non-tidal habitats. In the tidal area, seed production was only 9.7% of that in non-tidal ...