ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 3382
Session = 8.12.4


THE CELL CYCLE OF GAMETES, HETEROCHRONY, AND THE DIVERSIFICATION OF FERTILIZATION PATTERNS IN SEED PLANTS


J.S. Carmichael and W.E. Friedman, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202


The cell cycle is a critical regulator of developmental events. Observations on diverse seed plant taxa (Ephedra, Gnetum, Arabidopsis) indicate a direct relationship between the development of plant gametes, and their position within the cell cycle at the time of fertilization. Seed plant gametes may initiate fertilization in the G1, S, or G2 phase of the cell cycle and this differs significantly from other groups of eukaryotes, where fertilization is always initiated in G1. Comparative developmental analyses of seed plants indicate that shifts in the relative timing (i.e., heterochrony) of gamete cell cycle events may have been responsible for the diversification of fertilization patterns. Finally, information about cell cycle behavior of plant gametes may be used to predict which angiosperms will be amenable to development of in vitro fertilization procedures.


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