Self-incompatibility triggers programmed cell death in Papaver pollen

Steven G. Thomas and Vernonica E. Franklin-Tong ()
Additional contact information
Steven G. Thomas: University of Birmingham
Vernonica E. Franklin-Tong: University of Birmingham

Nature, 2004, vol. 429, issue 6989, 305-309

Abstract: Abstract Sexual reproduction in many angiosperm plants involves self-incompatibility (SI), which is one of the most important mechanisms to prevent inbreeding. SI is genetically controlled by the S-locus, and involves highly specific interactions during pollination between pollen and the pistil on which it lands. This results in the rejection of incompatible (‘self’) pollen, whereas compatible (‘non-self’) pollen is allowed to fertilize the plant1. In Papaver rhoeas, S-proteins encoded by the stigma component of the S-locus interact with incompatible pollen, triggering a Ca2+-dependent signalling network2,3,4,5,6,7, resulting in the inhibition of pollen-tube growth. Programmed cell death (PCD) is a mechanism used by many organisms to destroy unwanted cells in a precisely regulated manner8,9,10. Here we show that PCD is triggered by SI in an S-specific manner in incompatible pollen. This provides a demonstration of a SI system using PCD, revealing a novel mechanism to prevent self-fertilization. Furthermore, our data reveal that the response is biphasic; rapid inhibition of pollen-tube growth is followed by PCD, which is involved in a later ‘decision-making’ phase, making inhibition irreversible.

Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature02540 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:429:y:2004:i:6989:d:10.1038_nature02540

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/nature02540

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().