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Pollen tubes: cellular organization and control of growth

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Anther and Pollen

Abstract

Pollen tubes are the specialized cells in seed plants that carry the sperm cells towards the ovules where double fertilization occurs. Pollen tubes, together with other cell types such as root hairs are exclusively tip growing cells, where expansion and wall secretion take place at the tip only (Derksen and Emons 1990). The growth rate of pollen tubes depends on the species and growth conditions, for example in pine the growth rate is less than one µm per hour (de Win et al. 1996) while in maize it is up to 160 µm per hour (Mascarenhas 1993). Pollen tubes also show similarity to haustoria cells as they grow in the alien tissues of the ovary, which provide nutrition (Johri 1992). Pollen tubes have been studied extensively, but mostly on a few taxa which easily grow in vitro, e.g. for Angiosperms Lilium, Nicotiana, Tradescantia and Petunia (Steer and Steer 1989; Derksen and Emons 1990; Mascarenhas 1993; Pierson and Cresti 1992; Derksen et al. 1995a; Derksen 1996; Taylor and Hepler et al. 1997; Li et al. 1997) and for Gymnosperms Pinus (de Win et al. 1996) and Picea (Lazzaro 1996). A number of properties have been thought to be of relevance for tip growth but comparison between species shows dissimilarities as well as similarities. Presently we will address the factors that determine growth by reviewing the cellular organization of pollen tubes.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. A. L. M. Rutten

    Present address: Structural Biology Programme, EMBL, Meyerhofstrasse 1, 69012, Heidelberg, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Experimental Botany, Catholic University of Nijmegen, Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    J. Derksen, B. Knuiman & E. S. Pierson

  2. Department of Biology, The Plant Laboratory, The University of York, York, YO1 5YW, UK

    A. N. M. van Amstel

  3. Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, 100084, Beijing, China

    Y. Q. Li

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  1. J. Derksen
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  3. A. L. M. Rutten
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  4. B. Knuiman
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  5. Y. Q. Li
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  6. E. S. Pierson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Biologie et Physiologie Végétales, Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, B.P. 1039, F-51687, Reims Cedex 2, France

    Christophe Clément  & Jean-Claude Audran  & 

  2. Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italia

    Ettore Pacini

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Derksen, J., van Amstel, A.N.M., Rutten, A.L.M., Knuiman, B., Li, Y.Q., Pierson, E.S. (1999). Pollen tubes: cellular organization and control of growth. In: Clément, C., Pacini, E., Audran, JC. (eds) Anther and Pollen. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59985-9_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-59985-9_15

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