Reproductive resilience: putting pollen grains in two baskets.

Nicholas Rutley, Jeffery F Harper, Gad Miller

Journal: Trends in plant science 2022;27(3):237-246

PMID: 34627662

Full Text on Elsevier Science View on PubMed

Abstract

To ensure reproductive success, flowering plants produce an excess of pollen to fertilize a limited number of ovules. Pollen grains mature into two distinct subpopulations - those that display high metabolic activity and elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels immediately after hydration (high-ROS/active), and those that maintain an extended period of dormancy with low metabolic activity (low-ROS/inactive/arrested/dormant). We propose that the dormant pollen serves as a backup to provide a second chance for successful fertilization when the 'first wave' of pollen encounters an unpredictable growth condition such as heat stress. This model provides a framework for considering the role of dormancy in reproductive stress tolerance as well as strategies for mitigating pollen thermovulnerability to daytime and night-time warming that is associated with global climate change.

Address: The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel.; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nevada at Reno, NV 89557, USA.; The Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 5290002, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2021.09.002

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MeSH Terms: Heat-Shock Response, Ovule, Pollen, Pollination, Reactive Oxygen Species, Seeds