Pollen-pistil interactions during pollen-tube growth

Plant sexual reproduction relies on intimate interactions between the pollen and the pistil. These largely extracellular interactions lead to cellular activities within the pollen, enabling the transport of the male gametes by the pollen-tube growth process to the ovules for fertilization. Recent analyses of pollen surface molecules and extracellular matrix molecules along the pollen-tube growth pathway have produced insights into the molecular and biochemical bases of some of these interactions. These studies, together with the genetic analysis of sexual reproduction, are elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying pollination and fertilization.