Autophagy and its mediated mitochondrial quality control maintain pollen tube growth and male fertility in Arabidopsis.

Macroautophagy/autophagy, a major catabolic pathway in eukaryotes, participates in plant sexual reproduction including the processes of male gametogenesis and the self-incompatibility response. Rapid pollen tube growth is another essential reproductive process that is metabolically highly demanding to drive the vigorous cell growth for delivery of male gametes for fertilization in angiosperms. Whether and how autophagy operates to maintain the homeostasis of pollen tubes remains unknown.