A plant hormone controls how cucumber pollen gets released
Wen N, Lu Y, Wang P, Xu Z, Qiao D
Plant Signaling
If you've ever grown cucumbers and wondered why some plants fruit poorly, this pathway is part of what decides whether male flowers can even release pollen in the first place.
Cucumber plants have separate male and female flowers on the same vine, and pollen has to burst out of the male flower at just the right moment to fertilize the female one. Researchers found that a plant hormone called jasmonic acid tells the anther to break down its starch reserves into sugar, and that sugar draws water out of the anther, drying it out just enough to split open and release pollen. When they blocked genes in this pathway, the plants made pollen but could never release it, resulting in total male sterility.
Key Findings
Blocking jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthesis with dihydrocoumarin suppressed both anther dehiscence and pollen germination in cucumber.
Mutations in the JA receptor COI1 or transcription factors MYC2a/MYC2b caused complete male sterility by abolishing anther dehiscence.
MYC2a/MYC2b activate amylase genes BAM1, BAM5, and AMY3, which degrade starch into sugars that draw water out of the anther, driving dehydration and dehiscence.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists discovered the hormone jasmonic acid triggers cucumber plants to break down starch in their anthers, and that sugar rush is what makes pollen release possible. Blocking this pathway makes male flowers completely sterile, offering a precise genetic tool for breeding hybrid seeds.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Jasmonic acid-mediated starch degradation regulates male fertility in cucumber.
Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L.) are typically monoecious, with both male and female flowers developing on the same plant. Successful fertilization relies on the synchronized release of pollen from t...
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The cucumber is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, used as culinary vegetables. Considered an annual plant, there are three main types of cucumber—slicing, pickling, and seedless.