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DEVELOPMENT AND HORMONE ACTION

Synergid Cell Death in Arabidopsis Is Triggered following Direct Interaction with the Pollen Tube^1,[W],[OA]

Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112–0840 (L.S.-N., E.J.K., G.N.D.); Department of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721 (R.P.); and Department of Biology and Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599 (G.P.C.)

During angiosperm reproduction, one of the two synergid cells within the female gametophyte undergoes cell death prior to fertilization. The pollen tube enters the female gametophyte by growing into the synergid cell that undergoes cell death and releases its two sperm cells within the degenerating synergid cytoplasm to effect double fertilization. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and many other species, synergid cell death is dependent upon pollination. However, the mechanism by which the pollen tube causes synergid cell death is not understood. As a first step toward understanding this mechanism, we defined the temporal relationship between pollen tube arrival at the female gametophyte and synergid cell death in Arabidopsis. Using confocal laser scanning microscopy, light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and real-time observation of these two events in vitro, we demonstrate that synergid cell death initiates after the pollen tube arrives at the female gametophyte but before pollen tube discharge. Our results support a model in which a signaling cascade triggered by pollen tube-synergid cell contact induces synergid cell death in Arabidopsis.

² These authors contributed equally to the article.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Gary N. Drews (drews{at}bioscience.utah.edu).

^[W] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.

^[OA] Open Access articles can be viewed online without a subscription.

www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.107.098236

^* Corresponding author; e-mail drews{at}bioscience.utah.edu; fax 801–581–4668.

Received March 1, 2007; accepted May 22, 2007; published June 1, 2007.

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