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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Plant Gene Expression Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #247744
Title: The Regulation of Vesicle Trafficking by Small GTPases and Phospholipids during Pollen Tube Growth

Author
item ZHANG, YAN - University Of California
item McCormick, Sheila

Submitted to: Plant Reproduction
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/22/2009
Publication Date: 11/7/2009
Citation: Zhang, Y., Mccormick, S.M. 2009. The Regulation of Vesicle Trafficking by Small GTPases and Phospholipids during Pollen Tube Growth. Sexual Plant Reproduction. 497, DOI 10.1007/s00497-009-0118-z.

Interpretive Summary: This review article discusses wo classes of factors that are important for vesicle traffic inside cells, namely proteins called small GTPase and lipids with phosphate groups.

Technical 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.