Weblog of the Annals of Botany

Tag Archives: pollen

Pollen–pistil interactions in the Asteraceae (Review)

By Alex | Published: 29th of August 2011

Pollen–pistil interactions are an essential prelude to fertilization in angiosperms, and self-incompatibility (SI) is the best understood of these at a molecular level. Allen et al. review studies in the Asteraceae, and consider that recent cellular and molecular work in Senecio squalidus (Oxford ragwort) have challenged the belief that sporophytic SI and pollen–pistil interactions in [...]

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SI-mediated actin alterations in pollen (Review)

By Alex | Published: 23rd of August 2011

Self-incompatibility (SI) is generally controlled by the S-locus, and comprises allelic pollen and pistil S-determinants. Poulter et al. review and discuss our current understanding of the cytoskeletal alterations induced in incompatible pollen during SI and their relationship with programmed cell death in Papaver rhoeas, focussing on data relating to the formation of F-actin punctate foci. Analysis [...]

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Hay fever: another straw to clutch at?

By NigelChaffey | Published: 26th of May 2011

As the northern hemisphere’s hay fever season gets into full swing, there is encouraging news from Mother Nature’s own medicine cabinet. Hay fever – ‘seasonal allergic rhinitis’ – is an allergic inflammation of the nasal airways, and the most common atopic disease in the industrialised world (10–25 % of that population are martyrs to the malady). [...]

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Cytokinesis and pollen apertures in arabidopsis mutants

By Alex | Published: 20th of May 2011

It has been suggested that cytokinesis is associated with the determination of pollen aperture pattern. Albert et al. examine the tam (tardy asynchronous meiosis) mutant of Arabidopsis thaliana, which exhibits a switch from a simultaneous cytokinesis (no dyad stage) to a successive one (dyad stage), and find different aperture patterns between two strains. Since the only [...]

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