Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
A Plant Germline-Specific
integrator of sperm
Specification and Cell Cycle
progression
Lynette Brownfield, Said Hafidh, Michael Borg, Anna Sidorova,
Toshiyuki Mori and David Twell
abstRact
The unique double fertilisation mechanism in flowering plants depends upon
a pair of functional sperm cells. During male gametogenesis, each haploid
microspore undergoes an asymmetric division to produce a large, non-ger-
mline vegetative cell and a single germ cell that divides once to produce the
sperm cell pair. Despite the importance of sperm cells in plant reproduction,
relatively little is known about the molecular mechanisms controlling germ
cell proliferation and specification. Here, we investigate the role of the Ara-
bidopsis male germline-specific Myb protein DUO POLLEN1, DUO1, as a
