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Science 24 August 2001:
Vol. 293. no. 5534, pp. 1480 - 1483
DOI: 10.1126/science.1062429
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Reports

Pollen Tube Attraction by the Synergid Cell

Tetsuya Higashiyama,1* Shizu Yabe,1 Narie Sasaki,2 Yoshiki Nishimura,1 Shin-ya Miyagishima,1 Haruko Kuroiwa,1 Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa1

In flowering plants, guidance of the pollen tube to the embryo sac (the haploid female gametophyte) is critical for successful fertilization. The target embryo sac may attract the pollen tube as the final step of guidance in the pistil. We show by laser cell ablation that two synergid cells adjacent to the egg cell attract the pollen tube. A single synergid cell was sufficient to generate an attraction signal, and two cells enhanced it. After fertilization, the embryo sac no longer attracts the pollen tube, despite the persistence of one synergid cell. This cessation of attraction might be involved in blocking polyspermy.

1 Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
2 Department of Biology, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo 112-8610, Japan.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: higashi{at}biol.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp

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