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LIBRARY OF WORDS. “Other peptides/small proteins are also emerging as important players involved in pollen–pistil crosstalk. Peptides play also major roles during reproduction in animals and lower organisms, for example, acting as pheromones in gamete communication in Chlamydomonas and yeast.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205214608996 View in LinkedIn

THE THIN LINE. “Just as you can personalize your computer and mobile devices, advances in synthetic biology are allowing DNA hackers to personalize biology so that we will be able to use a DNA printer that will allow us "to print out our own treatments." You will be able to search for a flu or cold vaccine and then print out the genetic designs or download the "cure" via a smartphone app.” http://www.computerworld.com/article/2471716/healthcare-it/dna-hackers--synthetic-biology-weaponized-virus--zero-day-exploit-to-infect-your-brain.html View in LinkedIn

CROSSTALK MOLECULES. “Many of the crosstalk molecules identified to date represent various classes of secreted small proteins or peptides. In particular, the huge family of hundreds of CRPs, which has previously been shown to comprise proteins with essential roles in pathogen defense and symbiosis, has now emerged to contain key signaling factors in angiosperm reproduction.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205214608996 View in LinkedIn

NEW PLAGUE. “Some day, when you hear about something going 'viral,' it will not apply to an idea or video but to a DNA hack going viral to infect the masses.” http://www.computerworld.com/article/2471716/healthcare-it/dna-hackers--synthetic-biology-weaponized-virus--zero-day-exploit-to-infect-your-brain.html View in LinkedIn

SUPERFLUOUS. “Gymnosperms lacking double fertilization dominate large areas of the Earth, e.g. the Taiga or Northern Coniferous Forest. Therefore, double fertilization is not a requirement for success in seed plants.” https://lnkd.in/dJZ98Vs View in LinkedIn

THE WHY. “We are not positive why double fertilization occurs. Arthur Cronquist (1971) considered double fertilization a "mere evolutionary happenstance." One possible advantage of double fertilization is that the plant does not invest energy in seed nutritive tissue until after an egg has been fertilized. Another possible advantage is that the endosperm nucleus is very active and divides rapidly. It forms the nutritive tissue very quickly. Rapid seed development has obvious advantages.’ https://lnkd.in/dJZ98Vs View in LinkedIn

WHY DOUBLE FERTILIZATION OCCURS. “Of the two sperm cells, one sperm fertilizes the egg cell, forming a diploid zygote; the other sperm fuses with the two polar nuclei, forming a triploid cell that develops into the endosperm. Together, these two fertilization events in angiosperms are known as double fertilization. After fertilization is complete, no other sperm can enter. The fertilized ovule forms the seed, whereas the tissues of the ovary become the fruit, usually enveloping the seed.” https://lnkd.in/dQYs2c2 View in LinkedIn

OPEN ISSUES. “Determination of fertilization targets during the gametic phase of double fertilization is still largely unknown but must require complex gamete recognition and/or blocking polyspermy in both female gametes.” http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5722?WT.ec_id=NCOMMS-20140829 View in LinkedIn

NUANCES. “The transcriptional activation of male and female genomes in the zygote is critical for establishing apical–basal cell polarity over a long period of time before the first division. Our data suggest that unlike egg cell functioning in animals such as hamster, in Arabidopsis, a single spike of [Ca2+]cyt at fertilization with a duration that is much shorter than that observed during maize in vitro fertilization, might be sufficient for blocking polyspermy and initiation of the developmental programme.” http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5722?WT.ec_id=NCOMMS-20140829 View in LinkedIn

CELL CYCLE SYNCHRONY. “Flowering plants show unique cell cycle control in fertilization among eukaryotes; sperm cells of Arabidopsis in G2 phase have been proposed to fuse with the egg cell in G1/S or G2 phase and with the central cell in G2 phase. Different mechanisms of cell cycle arrest and activation might exist.” http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5722?WT.ec_id=NCOMMS-20140829 View in LinkedIn