Elsevier

Developmental Biology

Volume 153, Issue 1, September 1992, Pages 70-82
Developmental Biology

Review
Cell-cell communication in plants: Self-incompatibility in flower development

https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-1606(92)90092-UGet rights and content
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Abstract

Self-incompatibility, a mechanism that prevents self-fertilization in plants, is based on the ability of the pistil to discern the presence of self-pollen and on the female tissue's capacity to inhibit the growth or germination of self-related, but not of genetically unrelated, pollen. As a self-recognition system, self-incompatibility responds to specific cellular products and signals and thus offers a unique system in which to study the components of cellular communication in plants. The cytological manifestations of self-incompatibility have been well studied, and, with the cloning of cDNAs for several proteins associated with this recognition process, a detailed molecular view of self-incompatibility is emerging.

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Research in the authors' laboratories was supported in part by research grants awarded to J.B.N. and M.E.N. from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy, and CIBA-GEIGY.

1

V.A.D. is the recipient of a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in plant biology awarded in 1990.