Actin microfilaments do not form a dense meshwork inLilium longiflorum pollen tube tips

Summary

Controversy over whether the apical region of a growing pollen tube contains a dense array of actin microfilaments (MFs) was the impetus for the present study. Microinjection of small amounts of fluorescently labeled phalloidin allowed the observation of MF bundles inLilium longiflorum pollen tubes that were growing and functioning normally. The results show that while the pollen tube contains numerous MF bundles arranged axially, the apical region is essentially devoid of them. The MF bundles could be seen shifting and changing in distribution as the cells grew, but they always remained out of the apical regions. Perturbation of normal growth and function by caffeine causes a change in the MF distribution, which returns to normal upon removal of caffeine from the growth medium. The lack of MFs in the apex is confirmed by careful immunogold electron microscopic analysis of thin sections of rapidly frozen and freeze-substituted pollen tubes, in which very fine MF bundles could be seen somewhat closer to the tip than is discernible with fluorescence microscopy. Still, these are very few in number and are basically absent from the very tip. Thus a reassessment of current assumptions about the distribution of actin in the pollen tube apical region is required.