The Effects of Exogenous Polyamines and the Silencing of RLCK VI_A Kinases on the Polar Growth of Nicotiana tabacum (Tobacco) Pollen Tubes

Abstract

Several genetic and/or environmental factors such as air, temperature, humidity can have a harmful effect on fruit- and seed-set in seed plants. To minimize the harmful effect of these factors, it is important to get more information on the underlying genetics and physiology of pollen biology, including pollen viability and the regulation of pollen germination and tube growth, which is required to increase the safety of crop productivity (Abdelgadir, Johnson, and Staden 2012). In this thesis, two different experimental approaches were described to better understand the role of polyamines and plant-specific kinases (RLCK VI_A), respectively, on pollen tube germination and growth in Nicotiana tabacum.