ArticleFrontiers in plant science2023
Maize pollen carry bacteria that suppress a fungal pathogen that enters through the male gamete fertilization route.
Article in Frontiers in plant science, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Differential responses of crop pollen microbial communities to insect visitation and host identity: fungi are more sensitive than bacteria.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Genetic Diversity and Drought Stress Tolerance of a Global Collection of Pearl Millet at Germination and Early Seedling Growth Stages.Biochemical genetics · 2025Article
- Pollen diet, more than geographic distance, shapes provision microbiome composition in two species of cavity-nesting bees.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2025Article
- Synergistic effects ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Revisiting the role of pollen-microbiome interactions: new insights into the "One Health-One Biosecurity" concept in changing agroecosystems.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- The Microbiome of Fertilization-Stage Maize Silks (Style) Encodes Genes and Expresses Traits That Potentially Promote Survival in Pollen/Style Niches and Host Reproduction.Microorganisms · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In flowering plants, after being released from pollen grains, the male gametes use the style channel to migrate towards the ovary where they fertilize awaiting eggs. Environmental pathogens exploit the style passage, resulting in diseased progeny seed. The belief is that pollen also transmits pathogens into the style. By contrast, we hypothesized that pollen carries beneficial microbes that suppress environmental pathogens on the style passage. No prior studies have reported pollen-associated bacterial functions in any plant species. Here, bacteria were cultured from maize (corn) pollen encompassing wild ancestors and farmer-selected landraces from across the Americas, grown in a common field in Canada for one season. In total, 298 bacterial isolates were cultured, spanning 45 genera, 103 species, and 88 OTUs, dominated by
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