Screening and Analysis of Pollen Tube Mutations

Abstract

Although the cytology of the cellular aspects of male gametophytic development has been very well described for several species, molecular factors, i.e., genes, involved in the different pathways occurring in this complicated process remain to be clarified. Developmental steps of male gametophyte are pollination, pollen tube germination on stigma, pollen tube growth and elongation through the style, pollen tube guidance and pollen tube reception by the ovule (McCormick 2004). For each stage, numerous cellcell interactions and cues (biochemical, architectural and electrical) occur between the sporophyte cells (pistil) and the male gametophyte (Cheung 1996; Johnson and Lord, this volume). The study of mutants is a classical and now widely used approach to identify these cues and, consequently, to achieve a better understanding of molecular and biochemical mechanisms of pollen tube development.