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WAVES OF MESSAGES. “Ca2+ waves and oscillation are key signalling elements during the fertilization process of animals, and are involved, for example, in egg activation. In the unique double fertilization process in flowering plants, both the egg cell and the neighbouring central cell fuse with a sperm cell each. Here we succeeded in imaging cytosolic Ca2+ in these two cells, and in the two synergid cells that accompany the gametes during semi-in vivo double fertilization.” http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5722?WT.ec_id=NCOMMS-20140829 View in LinkedIn

MESSENGER. “Ca2+ is important as an intracellular second messenger in the fertilization of many organisms. In animals including mouse, xenopus, ascidian, starfish and sea urchin, various patterns of cytosolic Ca2+ waves and oscillations are involved in fertilization and the subsequent onset of embryogenesis.” http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms5722?WT.ec_id=NCOMMS-20140829 View in LinkedIn

IONIC WORDS. “More general signaling molecules involved in regulation of many of the pollination processes have also been identified. Ca2+ is now well established as playing a central role, acting in a signaling capacity during pollen germination, pollen tube growth, SI responses, and gamete reception.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205214608996 View in LinkedIn

POLYMORPHIC WORDS. “A major advantage of using peptides for intercellular crosstalk is their polymorphism. A single amino acid exchange or modification can easily result in complete loss of binding capability at specific cell surface receptors. The specificity of crosstalk, thus, seems to be often mediated by the polymorphic small secreted protein/peptide ligands expressed by individual cell types. Studies to date have initiated the identification of small proteins that act as signaling ligands, together with some of their functions.” http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205214608996 View in LinkedIn

IT HAS STARTED. “Biology can be hacked. And it is being hacked, every day.” https://lnkd.in/dkjx-Yi View in LinkedIn

NEW FRONTIER. “Think of all the trouble that computer hackers cause. Now imagine what DNA hackers could do.” https://lnkd.in/dVFmp9V View in LinkedIn

SO ENDS this two weekend dive into double fertilization in flowering plants. One explanation for its complexity is that we are looking at the survivors of a biological train wreck, the progeny of almost incompatible hybridizations that carry genetic and metabolic baggage that could not be jettisoned in time, and the resulting offspring is still capable of survival. 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