Is there more than one way to attract a pollen tube?

Abstract

ZmEA1 (Zea mays egg apparatus 1) is expressed only in the egg and synergid cells. Embryo sacs with presumed reduced expression of ZmEA1 fail to attract pollen tubes. Together with data from Arabidopsis mutants and from elegant laser ablation experiments in Torenia fournieri, these results indicate that embryo sacs send signals to the incoming pollen tubes. We need to decipher how such signals are perceived and determine if the signals are species-specific.