Characterisation of detergent-insoluble membranes in pollen tubes of Nicotiana tabacum (L.).

ABSTRACT: Pollen tubes are the vehicle for sperm cell delivery to the embryo sac during fertilisation of Angiosperms. They provide an intriguing model for unravelling mechanisms of growing to extremes. The asymmetric distribution of lipids and proteins in the pollen tube plasma membrane modulates ion fluxes and actin dynamics and is maintained by a delicate equilibrium between exocytosis and endocytosis. The structural constraints regulating polarised secretion and asymmetric protein distribution on the plasma membrane are mostly unknown. To address this problem, we investigated whether ordered membrane microdomains, namely membrane rafts, might contribute to sperm cell delivery. Detergent insoluble membranes, rich in sterols and sphingolipids, were isolated from tobacco pollen tubes. MALDI TOF/MS a

SUBMITTER: Moscatelli A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4359744 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature