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The regulation of vesicle trafficking by small GTPases and phospholipids during pollen tube growth

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Abstract

Polarized and directional growth of pollen tubes is the only means by which immotile sperm of flowering plants reach the deeply embedded female gametes for fertilization. Vesicle trafficking is among the most critical cellular activities for pollen tube growth. Vesicle trafficking maintains membrane homeostasis during rapid tube growth and provides polarity information by regulating protein/lipid compositions of different membrane compartments. In this review, we will focus on two classes of factors that orchestrate vesicle trafficking, small GTPases and phospholipids. We discuss the features of small GTPases and phospholipids that make them ideal components to regulate vesicle trafficking, review recent advances in understanding their involvement in vesicle trafficking, and propose directions for future research.

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Abbreviations

BFA:

Brefeldin A

PI(4,5)P2 :

Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate

PI(3,5)P2 :

Phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate

PI3P:

Phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate

PI4P:

Phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate

PA:

Phosphatidic acid

DAG:

Diacylglycerol

PLC:

Phospholipase C

PLD:

Phospholipase D

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Acknowledgments

We thank Sha Li for preparing Fig. 1. This work was supported by U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Current Research Information System Grant 5335-21000-030-00D and by the United States-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) IS4032-07.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Plant Gene Expression Center, United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service, Albany, CA, 94710, USA

    Yan Zhang & Sheila McCormick

  2. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California at Berkeley, 800 Buchanan St., Albany, CA, 94710, USA

    Yan Zhang & Sheila McCormick

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  1. Yan Zhang
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  2. Sheila McCormick
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Correspondence to Yan Zhang.

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Communicated by Yongbiao Xue.

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Zhang, Y., McCormick, S. The regulation of vesicle trafficking by small GTPases and phospholipids during pollen tube growth. Sex Plant Reprod 23, 87–93 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-009-0118-z

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