Compared with the animal kingdom, fertilization is particularly complex in flowering plants (angiosperms). Sperm cells of angiosperms have lost their motility and require transportation as a passive cargo by the pollen tube cell to the egg apparatus (egg cell and accessory synergid cells). Sperm cell release from the pollen tube occurs after intensive communication between the pollen tube cell and the receptive synergid, culminating in the lysis of both interaction partners. Following release of the two sperm cells, they interact and fuse with two dimorphic female gametes (the egg and the central cell) forming the major seed components embryo and endosperm, respectively. This process is known as double fertilization. Here, we review the current understanding of the processes of sperm cell reception, gamete interaction, their pre-fertilization activation and fusion, as well as the mechanisms plants use to prevent the fusion of egg cells with multiple sperm cells. The role of Ca(2+) is highlighted in these various processes and comparisons are drawn between fertilization mechanisms in flowering plants and other eukaryotes, including mammals.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.032 | DOI Listing |
Methods Mol Biol
January 2025
NMR Laboratory, Chemistry Department, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
High Resolution-Magic Angle Spinning (HR-MAS) solid-state NMR spectroscopy is finding increasing application in the analysis of solid foods, bypassing the need for complicated solvent extraction procedures. In the present protocol, we report a simple analytical approach based on HR-MAS NMR spectroscopy for the phenolic profiling of olive fruits, flesh, or skin. This approach allows the facile characterization of phenolic compounds in olive fruits cultivated for extra-virgin olive oil production as a function of maturation and variety, in addition to processing technology for table olives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethods Mol Biol
January 2025
Department of Food Quality and Nutrition, Research and Innovation Center, Fondazione Edmund Mach, San Michele all'Adige, Italy.
The final aim of metabolomics is the comprehensive and holistic study of the metabolome in biological samples. Therefore, the use of instruments that enable the analysis of metabolites belonging to various chemical classes in a wide range of concentrations is essential, without compromising on robustness, resolution, sensitivity, specificity, and metabolite annotation. These characteristics are crucial for the analysis of very complex samples, such as wine, whose metabolome is the result of the sum of metabolites derived from grapes, yeast(s), bacteria(s), and chemical or physical modification during winemaking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMol Biol Rep
January 2025
Advanced Centre for Plant Virology, Division of Plant Pathology, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 110012, India.
Background: Sugarcane is cultivated globally and affected by more than 125 pathogens, which lead to various plant diseases. In recent years, high-throughput sequencing (HTS)-based genome analyses have been broadly adopted for the discovery of both characterized and un-characterized viruses from plant samples. In this study, the HTS data of sugarcane pooled sample retrieved from sequence read archive (SRA) were de novo re-assembled using CLC Genomic Workbench.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPlanta
January 2025
Institute of Botany and Botanical Garden, Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Two different strategies for the distribution of macro- and trace elements can be observed in the terrestrial orchid Gymnadenia conopsea. Most trace elements are not translocated to the above-ground parts, whereas for macro-elements the trend was reversed, with the highest accumulation in the distal parts of the plants. Edaphic stress is one of the main factors affecting plant fitness, but it is still poorly understood, even in rare plants such as orchids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMetab Brain Dis
January 2025
School of Natural Product Studies, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, 700 032, India.
Alzheimer's disease is a complex neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive decline in cognitive function and behaviour. Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale Roscoe, has been an important ingredient of many Ayurveda formulations to treat neurological disorders. The present study aims to estimate the variation of 6-gingerol content in nine different ginger samples collected from Manipur, India, investigate the neuroprotective potential of the most potent ginger sample against scopolamine-induced cognitively impaired mice, and validate the therapeutic claim by molecular docking analysis.
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