The Pollen Tube: A Cellular and Molecular Perspective (Plant Cell Monographs, 3)

The enormous amount of data now available about the pollen tube clearly reflects its qualities as a biological model that go much beyond that of a carrier of sperm cells essential for plant reproduction. The diversity of techniques and methodologies currently used to study pollen and pollen tube growth is reflected in this book written by biochemists, cell biologists, molecular biologists and geneticists. Their different perspectives demonstrate that pollen tubes are excellent models for plant cell research, particularly suitable for investigations on cell tip growth and polarization, signal transduction, channel and ion flux activity, gene expression, cytoskeleton and wall structure, membrane dynamics and even cell–cell communication.

Rui Malhó is an associate professor in the Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Sciences of Lisbon. He holds a Ph.D. in cell biology, with a major interest in signal transduction mechanisms and imaging of cell dynamics―in particular, the study of pollen tube growth and its signalling pathways. Dr. Malhó did post-doctoral work at the University of Edinburgh with A.J. Trewavas and has published 40 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and 8 book chapters.