PMID- 12631329
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20031210
LR  - 20190906
IS  - 0960-7412 (Print)
IS  - 0960-7412 (Linking)
VI  - 33
IP  - 6
DP  - 2003 Mar
TI  - Double fertilization in maize: the two male gametes from a pollen grain have the 
      ability to fuse with egg cells.
PG  - 1051-62
AB  - In flowering plants, two male gametes from a single pollen grain fuse with two 
      female gametes, the egg and central cells, to form the embryo and endosperm, 
      respectively. The question then arises whether the two male gametes fuse randomly 
      with the egg and central cells. We investigated this question using two nearly 
      isogenic maize lines with supernumerary B chromosomes (TB10L18) or without 
      (r-tester). B chromosomes regularly undergo non-disjunction at the second pollen 
      mitosis, producing one sperm cell with zero B chromosomes and one with two. We 
      first confirmed earlier studies showing an excess of transmission of the B 
      chromosomes to the embryo rather than to the endosperm. We then tested the 
      possibility of a directed fertilization. For TB10L18 pollen, we could demonstrate 
      the existence of a size dimorphism between the two sperm cells, correlated to the 
      content in B chromosomes, as detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization 
      (FISH). However, no directed fusion of B chromosome containing sperm to egg cells 
      could be detected when using in vitro fertilization. The absence of directed 
      fusion in vitro could also be demonstrated for control lines. We conclude that 
      both male gametes have the capacity to fuse with the egg cell in maize, although 
      sexual reproduction results in a preferential transmission of supernumerary B 
      chromosomes.
FAU - Faure, Jean-Emmanuel
AU  - Faure JE
AD  - Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Laboratory of Plant Reproduction and 
      Development (UMR 5667 CNRS-INRA-ENS Lyon-UCB Lyon I), Lyon, France.
FAU - Rusche, Maxine Losoff
AU  - Rusche ML
FAU - Thomas, Annie
AU  - Thomas A
FAU - Keim, Paul
AU  - Keim P
FAU - Dumas, Christian
AU  - Dumas C
FAU - Mogensen, H Lloyd
AU  - Mogensen HL
FAU - Rougier, Mireille
AU  - Rougier M
FAU - Chaboud, Annie
AU  - Chaboud A
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - England
TA  - Plant J
JT  - The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology
JID - 9207397
SB  - IM
MH  - Chromosomes, Plant/genetics
MH  - Fertilization/*physiology
MH  - Nondisjunction, Genetic
MH  - Ovum/*physiology
MH  - Pollen/cytology/genetics/*physiology
MH  - Sperm-Ovum Interactions
MH  - Zea mays/cytology/genetics/*physiology
EDAT- 2003/03/13 04:00
MHDA- 2003/12/12 05:00
CRDT- 2003/03/13 04:00
PHST- 2003/03/13 04:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/12/12 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/03/13 04:00 [entrez]
AID - 1692 [pii]
AID - 10.1046/j.1365-313x.2003.01692.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Plant J. 2003 Mar;33(6):1051-62. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-313x.2003.01692.x.