ArticleNature plants2025
Kinesins control male germ unit assembly for sperm delivery in Arabidopsis.
Article in Nature plants, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Molecular understanding of plant pollination, fertilization, seed development and protoplast regeneration.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- Arabidopsis KASH domains are differentially required for distinct LINC complex roles in stomata, roots and pollen.Journal of cell science · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Unlike flagellated sperm in animals, which use molecular motors for motility, immotile sperm cells of angiosperms rely on cytoplasmic transport within pollen tubes to reach female gametes for fertilization. However, the mechanism underlying sperm cell transport in angiosperms remains unknown. Since the 1970s it has been observed that the two sperm cells, or their progenitor generative cell, are transported together with the pollen vegetative nucleus as part of an aggregated structure called the male germ unit, which forms within the pollen cytoplasm. Here, using super-resolution and live-cell imaging, we show that two kinesins, HUG1 and HUG2, form a kinesin cage encasing a microtubule cage around the generative cell or sperm cells and vegetative nucleus, tethering them into a single unit during Arabidopsis pollen development. Loss of HUG proteins disrupts male germ unit organization, leading to failed sperm delivery and complete plant sterility. These findings uncover the genetic and cellular basis of male germ unit organization and highlight its essential role in sperm transport for plant fertilization.
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Registered trials
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