FERONIA controls pectin- and nitric oxide-mediated male–female interaction

Qiaohong Duan, Ming-Che James Liu, Daniel Kita, Samuel S. Jordan, Fang-Ling Jessica Yeh, Robert Yvon, Hunter Carpenter, Anthony N. Federico, Liliana E. Garcia-Valencia, Stephen J. Eyles, Co-Shine Wang, Hen-Ming Wu () and Alice Y. Cheung ()
Additional contact information
Qiaohong Duan: University of Massachusetts
Ming-Che James Liu: University of Massachusetts
Daniel Kita: University of Massachusetts
Samuel S. Jordan: University of Massachusetts
Fang-Ling Jessica Yeh: University of Massachusetts
Robert Yvon: University of Massachusetts
Hunter Carpenter: University of Massachusetts
Anthony N. Federico: University of Massachusetts
Liliana E. Garcia-Valencia: University of Massachusetts
Stephen J. Eyles: University of Massachusetts
Co-Shine Wang: National Chung Hsing University
Hen-Ming Wu: University of Massachusetts
Alice Y. Cheung: University of Massachusetts

Nature, 2020, vol. 579, issue 7800, 561-566

Abstract: Abstract Species that propagate by sexual reproduction actively guard against the fertilization of an egg by multiple sperm (polyspermy). Flowering plants rely on pollen tubes to transport their immotile sperm to fertilize the female gametophytes inside ovules. In Arabidopsis, pollen tubes are guided by cysteine-rich chemoattractants to target the female gametophyte1,2. The FERONIA receptor kinase has a dual role in ensuring sperm delivery and blocking polyspermy3. It has previously been reported that FERONIA generates a female gametophyte environment that is required for sperm release4. Here we show that FERONIA controls several functionally linked conditions to prevent the penetration of female gametophytes by multiple pollen tubes in Arabidopsis. We demonstrate that FERONIA is crucial for maintaining de-esterified pectin at the filiform apparatus, a region of the cell wall at the entrance to the female gametophyte. Pollen tube arrival at the ovule triggers the accumulation of nitric oxide at the filiform apparatus in a process that is dependent on FERONIA and mediated by de-esterified pectin. Nitric oxide nitrosates both precursor and mature forms of the chemoattractant LURE11, respectively blocking its secretion and interaction with its receptor, to suppress pollen tube attraction. Our results elucidate a mechanism controlled by FERONIA in which the arrival of the first pollen tube alters ovular conditions to disengage pollen tube attraction and prevent the approach and penetration of the female gametophyte by late-arriving pollen tubes, thus averting polyspermy.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2106-2

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