Abstract Detail

Developmental and Structural Section

Escobar, Juan-Miguel [2], Huck, N [1], Federer, M [1], Gagliardini, V [1], Gheyselinck, J [1], Grossniklaus, Ueli [2].

FERONIA controls pollen tube reception in Arabidopsis thaliana..

> Accomplishment of fertilization in higher plants requires the direct interaction of male gametophytes, i.e. pollen and pollen tube, with the female reporoductive organs including the female gametophyte (embryo sac). In wild-type plants the pollen tube enters the degenerated synergid, arrests and releases the sperm cells, which are targeted to the egg and cetral cell, respectively. The female gametophytic mutant feronia, however, shows a failure in the direct interaction of pollen tube and embryo sac. In this mutant pollen tubes continue to grow inside the degenerated synergid and get tangled up within the micropylar tip of the female gametophyte. The study of synergid marker expression and the ultra-structural analysis of female gametophytes suggest that the synergids are normally specified and differentiated in mutant embryo sacs. Therefore the defect in feronia is likely due to the disruption of a direct interaction between the male and female gametophyte. The characterization of feronia elucidated unknown mechanisms occurring between the male and female gametophytes in flowering plants. We will report on the molecular isolation of FERONIA which provides new insights into this novel signalling pathway in flowering plants.

1 - University of Zurich, Institute of Systematic Botany, Zurich, CH-8008, Switzerland
2 - University of Zurich, Institute of Plant Biology., Developmental Genetics, Zurich, CH-8008, Switzerland

Keywords:
feronia
Pollen tube
fertilization
gametophyte.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 32-12
Location: Special Event Center (Cliff Lodge)
Date: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2004
Time: 12:30 PM
Abstract ID:623