Morphology and Biochemistry of the Self-Incompatibility Reaction

Abstract

A few detailed analyses have been carried out, for some incompatibility systems, of the morphological and biochemical changes which characterize or accompany the rejection mechanism in incompatible pistils. Even though such studies have been fragmentary, possibly complicated by artifacts and limited to small numbers of species which are not necessarily representative of other species assumed to display comparable breeding behaviors, it seems that a first appraisal can be made, at least for some systems, of the determination of incompatibility phenotypes and of the morphology and fate of pollen grains and pollen tubes in incompatible surroundings.