Pollen recognition and rejection during the sporophytic self-incompatibility response: Brassica and beyond

• Published in: Trends in plant science 2003-12, Vol.8 (12), p.606-613
• Main Authors: Hiscock, Simon J., McInnis, Stephanie M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Biological and medical sciences; Brassica; Brassica - genetics; Brassica - growth & development; Crosses, Genetic; Economic plant physiology; Evolution, Molecular; Fertility - genetics; Fertility - physiology; Flowering, floral biology, reproduction patterns; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Glycoproteins - genetics; Growth and development; Phylogeny; Plant physiology and development; Plant Proteins - genetics; Pollen - genetics; Pollen - growth & development; Protein Kinases - genetics; Protein Kinases - metabolism; Sexual reproduction; Signal Transduction - genetics; Signal Transduction - physiology; Vegetative and sexual reproduction, floral biology, fructification
• ISSN: 1360-1385; 1878-4372
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2003.10.007

Many hermaphrodite flowering plants avoid self-fertilization through genetic systems of self-incompatibility (SI). SI allows a plant to recognize and to reject self or self-related pollen, thereby preserving its ovules for outcrossing. Genes situated at the S-locus encode the ‘male’ (pollen) and ‘female’ (pistil) recognition determinants of SI. In sporophytic SI (SSI) the male determinant is expressed in the diploid anther, therefore haploid pollen grains behave with a diploid S phenotype. In Brassica, the male and the female determinants of SSI have been identified as a peptide ligand and its cognate receptor, respectively, and recent studies have identified downstream signalling molecules involved in pollen rejection. It now needs to be established whether the Brassica mechanism is universal in species with SSI, or unique to the Brassicaceae.