pollen-biology

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Cold-induced peptide signalling secures pollen resilience and crop yield.

PubMed · 2026-06-03

Scientists discovered a molecular alarm system in tomato plants that protects pollen from cold damage. By boosting two tiny signaling peptides, they prevented up to 52% of cold-induced crop losses in tomatoes — and found the same protective mechanism works in rice, pointing toward a broad strategy for cold-proofing crops.

Two small signaling peptides (RGF9 and RGF10) specifically protect tomato pollen from cold-induced abortion; plants lacking them are otherwise normal but lose pollen after cold stress

Overexpressing these peptides in tomato plants prevented up to 52% of cold-induced yield losses

The same protective pathway exists in rice, where boosting homologous peptides recovered 18.3% of grain yield lost to cold stress

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Rice

Tomato

pollen-biology

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