title: The end of temptation: the elimination of persistent synergid cell identity.
abstract: In flowering plants, sexual reproduction culminates in double fertilization, which occurs after an ovule receives two sperm cells from a single pollen tube. Recent progress in pollen tube guidance, as well as analyses of fertilization-defective mutants, have highlighted a post-fertilization event that rapidly terminates pollen tube attraction. This event plays a crucial role in ensuring a one-to-one fertilization system between males and females. This phenomenon is controlled by the activity of persistent synergid cells, which secrete peptides that attract and thus guide the pollen tube. This review briefly introduces new findings on cell biology and signaling pathways that regulate the unique inactivation mechanism of persistent synergid cells.
authors.affiliation: Kihara Institute for Biological Research, Yokohama City University, 641-12 Maioka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 244-0813, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan; Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601, Japan; JST ERATO Higashiyama Live-Holonics Project, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan. Electronic address: higashi@bio.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Higashiyama
mesh_terms: D005306:Fertilization / Q000502:physiology; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D053205:Pollen Tube / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology