Figure 3

GME is required for pollen germination and pollen tube elongation. (A–C) In vitro pollen germination (A), statistical analysis of the pollen germination rate (B) and pollen tube length (C) in Col-0 WT, GME/gme-1, gme-2, gme-2 P _GME ::GME and gme-1/gme-2 P _GME ::GME plants. Error bars represent the standard error (SE; n = 3). Asterisks represent Student’s t-test significance compared with wild type (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01). (D) In vitro pollen germination in qrt/qrt and qrt/qrt GME/gme-1. (E) Frequency (%) of qrt/qrt and qrt/qrt GME/gme-1 tetrads with the indicated numbers (0, 1, 2, 3 or 4) of germinated pollen grains. Error bars represent the SE (n = 3). Asterisks represent Student’s t-test significance between pairs indicated with brackets (*P < 0.05, **P < 0.01). (F–H) Aniline blue staining of pollen tubes showing that WT (F) and gme-2 P _GME ::GME (H) pollen tubes germinated for 16 h in WT female organs could reach the base of the transmitting tract, while gme-2 pollen tubes (G) could only reach half of the transmitting tract. Consistently, mature WT (F) and gme-2 P _GME ::GME (H) siliques were full of seeds, while gme-2 siliques (G) contained few seeds in the upper part of the silique. White arrows indicate pollen tubes.