an osmotic model of the growing pollen tube一个渗透模型的花粉管生长.pdfVIP

An Osmotic Model of the Growing Pollen Tube 1 2 2 2 3 Adrian E. Hill *, Bruria Shachar-Hill , Jeremy N. Skepper , Janet Powell , Yair Shachar-Hill 1 Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 2 Multi-Imaging Centre, Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 3 Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, United States of America Abstract Pollen tube growth is central to the sexual reproduction of plants and is a longstanding model for cellular tip growth. For rapid tip growth, cell wall deposition and hardening must balance the rate of osmotic water uptake, and this involves the control of turgor pressure. Pressure contributes directly to both the driving force for water entry and tip expansion causing thinning of wall material. Understanding tip growth requires an analysis of the coordination of these processes and their regulation. Here we develop a quantitative physiological model which includes water entry by osmosis, the incorporation of cell wall material and the spreading of that material as a film at the tip. Parameters of the model have been determined from the literature and from measurements, by light, confocal and electron microscopy, together with results from experiments made on dye entry and plasmolysis in Lilium longiflorum. The model yields values of variables such as osmotic and turgor pressure, growth rates and wall thickness. The model and its predictive capacity were tested by comparing programmed simulations with experimental observations following perturbations of the growth medium. The model explains the role of turgor pressure and its observe