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Discovery of a male receptor for fertilization in the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana ~Coordinated behaviors of male and female gametophytes evolved through the duplication of genes~
(2009.07.31)
Even if one attempts to crossbreed different plant species seeds cannot be produced. One of the major reasons for this is that the emission of the sperm cell from the pollen tube and the release of the ovum in the egg apparatus do not occur at the correct timing. The research group of Prof. Mitsuyasu Hasebe of the National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB), Division of Evolutionary Biology, has discovered the essential factor within the pollen tube that allows recognition of the egg apparatus. Furthermore it is clear the factor discovered in the pollen tube (the male factor) evolved from a common ancestor gene as a previously discovered factor in the egg apparatus (the female factor) at about the same time as the evolution of this reproductive system. The discovery that mutual recognition factors originated from the same gene is the first step in understanding how coordinated male and female behaviors evolved in plants. In addition it is expected that this research will further the development of successful interspecies cross-breeding systems, and have applications in the selective breeding of crop plants. The results of this research will be published in the Online edition of Current Biology on July 30th (American time zones).