Tracking pollen tube and ovule development in vivo reveals rapid responses to pollination in Brassica napus
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Parry, Catherine
Turnbull, Colin
Gill, Richard
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Pollination and subsequent fertilization in most angiosperms are precursors of seed and fruit development. Thus, understanding the developmental processes can improve the management of plant reproductive success and food security. Indeed, the window between ovule fertilization and seed development is crucial for the accumulation of metabolites which determines ultimate seed quality and yield. Establishing detailed temporal maps of development to describe pollination to early seed development is therefore extremely valuable to provide context for molecular studies, plant breeding, and to refine crop management strategies for optimal seed quality. Here, we characterize aspects of post-pollination responses in the globally important crop plant Brassica napus (oilseed rape, canola) with a high-resolution time series of microscope images of the floral organs during the first 48 h post pollination. We demonstrate the rapid response to pollination in B. napus (c.v. Westar), with pollen tubes germinating and traversing the style within just 4 h. We also describe markers of early seed formation in response to fertilization in the synchronous development of ovule area and stigma length. Our results provide a series of temporal benchmarks for post-pollination floral morphology in B. napus, representing valuable reference points for studying and tracking pollination responses and early seed development.
Date Issued
2025-02-01
Date Acceptance
2025-01-07
Citation
AOB Plants, 2025, 17 (2)
ISSN
2041-2851
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Journal / Book Title
AOB Plants
Volume
17
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
10.1093/aobpla/plaf002
Subjects
Brassica napus
ovule
pollen tube
fertilization
pollination
controlled pollination
aniline blue
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
plaf002
Date Publish Online
2025-01-20