Quantification of pollen tube attraction in response to guidance by female gametophyte tissue using artificial microscale pathway

Abstract

We developed two types of artificial platforms, T-junction and crossroad microchannel devices, and obtained guidance response ratio of pollen tubes to the female tissue as 56-57%. The crossroad device was also able to collect the attracted pollen tubes with high purity, which is useful for future omics analysis.

Quantitative assessment of chemotropism in pollen tubes using microslit channel filters

“…Attracted pollen tubes were then quantified based on their entry into the channel containing the ovules. 16 Using the same approach, pollen tube guidance in Torenia fournieri was demonstrated in a microfluidic device with cross-shaped 17 and T-shaped channels 18 [ Fig. 1(c)].…”

Gametophytic Pollen Tube Guidance: Attractant Peptides, Gametic Controls, and Receptors

“…It should be noted that a very small number of LURE peptides, approximately 1,000 molecules in a bead, can attract pollen tubes in Torenia, which is also a considerable advantage for single-molecule analysis (Okuda et al, 2009;Goto et al, 2011). Microfluidics allow precise control of pollen tube guidance in real time using the microscope (Horade et al, 2013;Sanati Nezhad et al, 2014;Sato et al, 2015). In vivo live-cell imaging by twophoton microscopy (Cheung et al, 2010;Mizuta et al, 2015), on the other hand, also would help elucidate complex pollen-pistil interactions that establish the oneon-one relationship between multiple pollen tubes and ovules in real time.…”