ECS1 and ECS2 suppress polyspermy and the formation of haploid plants by promoting double fertilization.

The current pace of crop plant optimization is insufficient to meet future demands and there is an urgent need for novel breeding strategies. It was previously shown that plants tolerate the generation of triparental polyspermy-derived plants and that polyspermy can bypass hybridization barriers. Polyspermy thus has the potential to harness previously incompatible climate-adapted wild varieties for plant breeding.

Development and function of the flowering plant female gametophyte.

Flowering plants constitute an indispensable basis for the existence of most organisms, including humans. In a world characterized by rapid population growth and climate changes, understanding plant reproduction becomes increasingly important in order to respond to the resource shortage associated with this development. New technologies enabling powerful forward genetic approaches, comprehensive genome and transcriptome analyses, and sophisticated cell isolation and imaging have advanced our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying gamete formation and fertilization.