How do you measure the effectiveness of a pollinator? One common method is to sit patiently by a flower and watch for visits. While this can tell you the quantity of visits, it doesn’t always tell you about the quality...
Pollen tubes are rapidly growing, photosynthetically inactive cells that need high rates of energy to support growth. Energy can derive from internal and external storage sources. The lack of carbon sources can cause...
Lin et al. examine expression of Brassica campestris male fertility 8 (BcMF8) in pistils of Chinese cabbage (B. campestris ssp. chinensis), and find that it encodes a putative AGP that is located in the cell wall and is...
Pollen grains contain numerous hydrolytic enzymes, many of which are released upon contact with the stigma. Rejón et al. carry out for the first time a systematic functional classification of esterases in pollen grains...
This month the inset cover image shows a detail of the stigma of a flower of apple, Malus × domestica. The acquisition of stigmatic receptivity is concomitant with secretion of arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs, strained...