In the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, researchers have discovered the intricate processes that precede reproduction in flowering plants.
The findings were published in Nature on July 6. Professor Luan, chair of the PMB department and the paper's senior author, said that the exact mechanism for signaling has been difficult to understand.
He said that the whole process is now more clear than before.
Sending a love note.
The male and female reproductive organs of a flower can be fertilized by the transfer of pollen from the stamen to the stigma on the pistil. The transfer of sperm to the egg can be accomplished by growing a pollen tube from the pollen grain.
Luan said that researchers knew the calcium signal was important but didn't know how it was made.
Luan and his co-authors used a biosensor to look for signals from the male parts that triggered the calcium waves.
The small peptides that are emitted by the pollen tubes can be seen by the female cell's peptides receptors. The calcium wave that guides the pollen tube to the ovule is created by these receptors.
Luan said that this could be compared to a delivery service. The small peptide molecule is a signal to the female part of the flower, similar to a knock on the door.
The sperm can be released once it is inside the ovule because of the calcium waves.
They commit suicide to release the sperm. Sometimes the female reproductive cell dies in order to expose the egg, so they can meet and produce new life It is a journey for plant reproduction.
A new approach to messaging.
Understanding the intricate processes of fertilization may help improve the commercial yield of flowering plants. If the findings are used to break the interspecies barrier, they could open the door to the creation of new hybrid crop species.
In addition to the potential commercial application, these findings show plants' amazing ability to communicate. Plants reinvented their own molecule specific to their communication process.
The calcium channels found in plants are different from those found in animals, suggesting that plants invented a way to produce signals that are different. According to Luan, researchers have studied calcium channels for more than 30 years and discovered how they confer resistance to powdery mildew.
The role of their biochemicals remained a mystery until this study was done. Luan said that reinventing new channels to communicate in their own way is important to biology.
More information: Qifei Gao et al, A receptor–channel trio conducts Ca2+ signalling for pollen tube reception, Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04923-7 Journal information: Nature
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