Inorganic polyphosphates in pollen tubes

Correction: The new world of inorganic polyphosphates.

Figure 1 Model of two independent PTMs, serine-pyrophosphorylation and lysine-polyphosphorylation Protein pyrophosphorylation is the transfer of the b-phosphate group of the pyrophosphate moiety of IP7 on to a pre-phosphorylated serine residue (left) [16,17]. Conversely, protein polyphosphorylation is the covalent attachment of a chain of inorganic polyP on to a lysine residue dependent on the ...

How pollen tubes grow.

Sexual reproduction of flowering plants depends on delivery of the sperm to the egg, which occurs through a long, polarized projection of a pollen cell, called the pollen tube. The pollen tube grows exclusively at its tip, and this growth is distinguished by very fast rates and reaches extended lengths. Thus, one of the most fascinating aspects of pollen biology is the question of how enough ce...

Plant Fertilization: Bursting Pollen Tubes!

Higher plants don't have motile sperm; they rely on pollen tubes to deliver them. Recent research has identified key components involved in pollen tube tip bursting that allow sperm release and fertilization.

Inorganic polyphosphates in biology: structure, metabolism, and function.

Persistent Symmetry Frustration in Pollen Tubes

Pollen tubes are extremely rapidly growing plant cells whose morphogenesis is determined by spatial gradients in the biochemical composition of the cell wall. We investigate the hypothesis (MP) that the distribution of the local mechanical properties of the wall, corresponding to the change of the radial symmetry along the axial direction, may lead to growth oscillations in pollen tubes. We cla...