The FERONIA receptor-like kinase mediates male-female interactions during pollen tube reception.
In flowering plants, signaling between the male pollen tube and the synergid cells of the female gametophyte is required for fertilization. In the Arabidopsis thaliana mutant feronia (fer), fertilization is impaired; the pollen tube fails to arrest and thus continues to grow inside the female gametophyte. FER encodes a synergid-expressed, plasma membrane-localized receptor-like kinase. We found that the FER protein accumulates asymmetrically in the synergid membrane at the filiform apparatus. Interspecific crosses using pollen from Arabidopsis lyrata and Cardamine flexuosa on A. thaliana stigmas resulted in a fer-like phenotype that correlates with sequence divergence in the extracellular domain of FER. Our findings show that the female control of pollen tube reception is based on a FER-dependent signaling pathway, which may play a role in reproductive isolation barriers.
Institute of Plant Biology and Zürich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008 Zürich, Switzerland.
Juan-Miguel
JM
Escobar-Restrepo
Norbert
N
Huck
Sharon
S
Kessler
Valeria
V
Gagliardini
Jacqueline
J
Gheyselinck
Wei-Cai
WC
Yang
Ueli
U
Grossniklaus
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019607:Brassicaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000201:enzymology; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D035264:Flowers / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000502:physiology*; D015870:Gene Expression; D017343:Genes, Plant; D018525:Germination; D008024:Ligands; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010766:Phosphorylation; D010770:Phosphotransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019441:Plant Epidermis / Q000201:enzymology; D053205:Pollen Tube / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013045:Species Specificity; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D008024:Ligands; D010770:Phosphotransferases; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C522131:At3g51550 protein, Arabidopsis; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases