Anthers are essential in plant reproduction and are also crucial in agriculture, because hybrid seed production typically relies on the manipulation of male fertility. Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is the fifth most produced grain crop in the world. However, relatively little is known about the genetic mechanisms that regulate anther development and male fertility in sorghum. Here, we report the morphological characteri...

In most angiosperm plants, seeds are produced through a sexual process. Some angiosperms have developed an alternative reproductive strategy termed apomixis which involves producing seeds without the key steps of sexual development (i.e. meiosis, fertilization) and results in progeny genetically identical to the mother plant. Despite significant research advances, the evolutionary origin and molecular nature of apomixis remain...

Land plants alternate between multicellular haploid and diploid phases, requiring a tight coordination between vegetative growth and sexual reproduction. We investigated SWI3A/B , an ancient core subunit of the SWI/SNF complex, of the non-vascular liverwort Marchantia polymorpha . A mutation in the promoter of Mp SWI3A/B affected gametangiophore development and spermiogenesis in males, revealing its male-specific role in repro...

Low temperature is a major environmental stress factor that limits male reproductive success in plants; however, the mechanistic basis of pollen responses to different degrees of low temperature stress remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the cytological, biochemical, and molecular responses of tea ( Camellia sinensis ) pollen grains to low-temperature stress by germinating pollen in vitro at 15, 10, and 5...

In plant cells, lipids serve various roles facilitating membrane bilayer formation, energy storage and signaling molecules. Acyl lipids are the most common in distinct plant cell compartments. Lipids regulated by key genes encoding fatty acid desaturases, diacylglycerol acyltransferase, 3-ketoacyl-CoA synthase and acyl-CoA-binding proteins (ACBPs) are deemed crucial during floral development. ACBPs, along with long-chain acyl-...

Key message Loss of SPL10 and SPL11 increases penetrance of abnormal phenotypes in dcl1 embryos. Abstract The first division of the Arabidopsis zygote is asymmetric, resulting in an apical cell lineage that generates most of the embryo proper, and a basal cell lineage that produces the root meristem and the extraembryonic suspensor. Loss of function mutations in the microRNA processing enzyme genes DICER-LIKE 1 (DCL1) and SERR...

Key message The stigma papilla cells of Arabidopsis thaliana control water transport to pollen by regulating the morphology of vacuoles in papilla cells after pollination. Abstract Pollen hydration is the first crucial response after pollination for successful fertilization. In the Brassicaceae family, papilla cells on the stigma supply water to pollen. In pollinated papilla cells, cellular responses essential for pollen hydra...

Key message Superoxide accumulates during early stigma papillae growth stages in Arabidopsis. Abstract Highly specialized stigma papillae cells play a critical role in plant reproduction. Their main purpose is to catch and interact with pollen, to mediate compatibility responses, to regulate pollen germination, and to guide pollen tubes to the transmitting tract so that the sperm cells carried in the pollen can be delivered to...

Key message Arabidopsis stigma papillae grow by a diffuse growth mechanism rather than by tip growth. Abstract In angiosperms, the stigma is the first point of contact between the pollen (male) and pistil (female) during pollination. The stigma facilitates pollen capture and adhesion, compatibility responses, pollen germination, and pollen tube guidance to the transmitting tract. In Arabidopsis thaliana , the stigma is compose...

Key message We link key aspects of land plant reproductive evolution and detail how successive molecular changes leading to novel tissues and organs require co-evolution of communication systems between tissues. Abstract The transition of water-dependent reproduction of algae to mechanisms with very limited water dependence in many land plant lineages allowed plants to colonize diverse terrestrial environments, leading to the...