title: RLKs orchestrate the signaling in plant male-female interaction.
abstract: Different from animals, sessile plants are equipped with a large receptor-like kinase (RLK) superfamily. RLKs are a family of single trans-membrane proteins with divergent N-terminal extracellular domains capped by a signal peptide and C-terminal intracellular kinase. Researches in the last two decades have uncovered an increasing number of RLKs that regulate plant development, stress response and sexual reproduction, highlighting a dominant role of RLK signaling in cell-to-cell communications. Sexual reproduction in flowering plants is featured by interactions between the male gametophyte and the female tissues to facilitate sperm delivery and fertilization. Emerging evidences suggest that RLKs regulate almost every aspect of plant reproductive process, especially during pollination. Therefore, in this review we will focus mainly on the function and signaling of RLKs in plant male-female interaction and discuss the future prospects on these topics.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. hjli@genetics.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Hongju
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Molecular Developmental Biology, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. wcyang@genetics.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Wei-Cai
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D008954:Models, Biological; D056771:Ovule / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D053205:Pollen Tube / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D054817:Pollination / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
keywords: RLK; female gametophyte; male-female interaction; plant reproduction; pollen tube; pollen tube growth and guidance; pollen tube reception; signaling