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Arabinogalactan proteins: rising attention from plant biologists

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Abstract

Key message

AGP update: plant reproduction.

Arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) are a large family of hydroxyproline-rich proteins, heavily glycosylated, ubiquitous in land plants, including basal angiosperms and also in many algae. They have been shown to serve as important molecules in several steps of the reproductive process in plants. Due to their special characteristics, such as high sugar content and their means of association with the membrane, they are often perceived as likely candidates for many different aspects of the reproductive process such as signalling molecules, cell identity determinants, morphogens, nutrient sources and support for pollen tube growth, among others. Nevertheless, the study of these proteins pose many difficulties when it comes to studying them individually. Most of the work done involved the use of the β-glucosyl Yariv reagent and antibodies that recognize the carbohydrate epitopes only. Recently, new approaches have been used to study AGPs largely based in the remarkable growing volume of microarray data made available. Either using older techniques or the most recent ones, a clearer picture is emerging for the functions and mode of action of these molecules in the plant reproductive processes. Here, we present an overview about the most important studies made in this area, focusing on the latest advances and the possibilities for future studies in the field.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financed by FEDER through the COMPETE programme and by Portuguese National funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Project PTDC/AGR-GPL/115358/2009) and from an FCT PhD Grant SFRH/BD/60995/2009 awarded to AMP. This project also benefited from financial support from the COST Action FA0903: ‘Harnessing Plant Reproduction for Crop Improvement’. We want to thank BioMed Central, the original publisher of Figure 2, and the authors (Costa M, Nobre MS, Becker JD, Masiero S, Amorim MI, Pereira LG, Coimbra S (2013). Expression-based and co-localization detection of Arabinogalactan protein 6 and Arabinogalactan protein 11 interactors in Arabidopsis pollen and pollen tubes. BMC Plant Biol 13:7) for sharing this image. We also wish to thank to Oxford University Press for permission on using Figure 1a, published in Pereira AM, Masiero S, Nobre MS, Costa ML, Solís M-T, Testillano PS, Sprunck S, Coimbra S (2014) Differential expression patterns of Arabinogalactan Proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana reproductive tissues. J Exp Bot 65(18):5459–5471. We would like to thank Professor Roberto Salema for all the unconditional support given to our scientific research during the last years.

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  1. Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal

    Ana Marta Pereira, Luís Gustavo Pereira & Sílvia Coimbra

  2. Biosystems and Integrative Sciences Institute (BioISI), Porto, Portugal

    Ana Marta Pereira, Luís Gustavo Pereira & Sílvia Coimbra

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  1. Ana Marta Pereira
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  2. Luís Gustavo Pereira
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Correspondence to Sílvia Coimbra.

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Communicated by Lucia Colombo.

A contribution to the special issue ‘From Gametes to Seeds’.

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Pereira, A.M., Pereira, L.G. & Coimbra, S. Arabinogalactan proteins: rising attention from plant biologists. Plant Reprod 28, 1–15 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00497-015-0254-6

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