The mathematics of sexual attraction.
Pollen tubes follow attractants secreted by the ovules. In a recent paper in BMC Plant Biology, Stewman and colleagues have quantified the parameters of this attraction and used them to calibrate a mathematical model that reproduces the process and enables predictions on the nature of the female attractant and the mechanisms of the male response.
Feijó
José A
JA
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, P-2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal and Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências, Depto, Biologia Vegetal, Campo Grande C2, P-1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal. jfeijo@fc.ul.pt
D003198:Computer Simulation; D035264:Flowers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000502:physiology; D055993:Germ Cells, Plant / Q000502:physiology*; D008433:Mathematics; D056771:Ovule / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D010944:Plants; D053205:Pollen Tube / Q000254:growth & development*; D012723:Sex; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology