ISHS Acta Horticulturae 447: III International Symposium on In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding
PHENOLIC FUNCTION IN POLLEN GROWTH IN ARABIDOPSIS THALIANA |
| Authors: | K. Song, Y. Kim, H. Cheong, John J. Sheahan |
| Abstract:
Flavonoids are secondary metabolites that serve as markers to flower development. Flavonoid and sinapate ester deficient mutants were evaluated to study the possible role of flavonoid compounds on pollen tube growth. We have investigated tube growth in pistils of a flavonoid-deficient chalcone synthase mutant (tt4) and a sinapate ester-deficient mutant (fah1–7) of Arabidopsis thaliana. The growth of pollen tubes was significantly differed in the mutants and wild type. In the pistils of fah1–7, pollen tube growth occurred most rapidly relative to that of tt4, in which tubes developed longer than that of wild type. The tube growth also depends on the flower maturity in those 3 genotypes. To examine in vitro tube growth, a solid germination medium was revised for pollen germination and subsequent growth. A concentrated tap water medium gave the best results, so that an artificial medium was developed for further experiments. Pollens of tt4 germinated well, but tube elongation occurred most rapidly in the pollens of fah1-7. Pistils of fah1-7 had enhanced pollen tube growth suggesting that the intermediate of sinapate esters may have a physiological role in tube growth, rather than flavonoids. In addition, these results explain why the Arabidopsis CHS mutant is not a male sterile. | |
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