MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN POLLEN TUBE GROWTH: A REVIEW

An Italian mathematician and astronomer Amici In 1824 first observed pollen tubes germinating on a stigma. He later proposed that the pollen tube carried the sperm cells to ovules where the eggs resided. The pollen tube cell is the fastest growing plant cell. It shows other unusual features that make it unique as a plant cell. A major review covering the molecular and genetic basis of pollen /pistil interaction has been published. When the pollen grain is hydrated, the tube cell cytoplasm becomes activated. After hydration, the pollen grain produces an outgrowth from an aperture or thin area in the wall. This is the site of tip growth that results in the production of a pollen tube, which will ultimately convey the sperm cells to the embryo sac. In this review this review, the role of extra cellular matrix (ECM), stigma/ stylar Cys-rich adhesin (SCA), microtubules (MTs), Rop Signalling, callose, Calcium Channels, Nitric Oxide, LatrunculinB and Other Drugs, oscillatory growth of pollen tubes and its molecular mechanism (s) and pulsatile influxes of proton, calcium and potassium and chloride efflux were discussed.