Figure 6.

LRE-cYFP from Pollen Tubes Rescues Female Gametophyte Defects Caused by the lre-7 Mutation.

(A) to (C) Representative images from pollen tube reception assays using aniline blue staining. Ovules are outlined in white dashed line. Normal pollen tube reception in wild-type (A) and lre-7/lre-7 ovules (B); abnormal pollen tube reception in lre-7/lre-7 ovule (C). Bar = 50 µm.

(D) and (E) Pollen tube-expressed LRE-cYFP rescued pollen tube reception (D) and seed set defects (E) of the lre-7 female gametophyte, respectively. Total number of ovules (D) and seeds (E) analyzed, respectively, is in the center of each column.

(F) and (G) lre-7/lre-7 fer-4/fer-4 double mutant showed similar level of pollen tube reception as lre-7/lre-7 and fer-4/fer-4 single mutant and a small but significant difference (χ² test) in seed set defect when compared with either lre-7/lre-7 or fer-4/fer-4 single mutant (G). Total number of ovules (F) and seeds (G) analyzed is in the center of each column. NS, not significant. P values = 0.192 (column 2 versus column 4 in [F]) and 0.1957 (column 3 versus column 4 in [F]), respectively. ***P value < 0.001 (P values = 6.34 × 10⁻⁵ for column 2 versus column 4 and 0.0007 for column 3 versus column 4 in [G]).

(H) and (I) FER is required in synergids to rescue the pollen tube reception (H) and seed set (I) defects in the lre-7 female gametophyte by the pollen tube-expressed LRE. Total number of ovules (H) and seeds (I) analyzed is in the center of each column. NS, not significant. P value = 0.3994 (column 4 versus column 5 in [H]) and 0.4094 (column 4 versus column 5 in [I]) respectively. ***P value < 0.001; P value < 2.2 × 10⁻¹⁶ for column 2 versus column 3 in both (H) and (I).