Method for Ultrarapid High-Content Screening for Biologically Active Chemicals Using Plant Pollen.

Chemical genomics attracts considerable attention by offering crucial tools for plant biology to regulate plant growth and development. However, most chemical screens are time consuming and laborious, and require a high input of resources. Here we describe a broadly applicable method for the ultrarapid high-content phenotypic screening of small chemical compound libraries for new plant growth regulators.

Novel small molecule modulators of plant growth and development identified by high-content screening with plant pollen.

Background: Small synthetic molecules provide valuable tools to agricultural biotechnology to circumvent the need for genetic engineering and provide unique benefits to modulate plant growth and development.

Results: We developed a method to explore molecular mechanisms of plant growth by high-throughput phenotypic screening of haploid populations of pollen cells. These cells rapidly germinate to develop pollen tubes.