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Plant biology

A social stigma

Nature volume 403, pages 840–841 (2000)Cite this article

In many bisexual flowering plants, the close proximity of male and female reproductive organs has resulted in the development of strategies to prevent inbreeding. One strategy, called self-incompatibility, enables the pistil (female) tissue to distinguish between self (genetically related) and non-self (genetically unrelated) pollen. How is this achieved?

Species of Brassica (cabbage) have been widely used in addressing this question. On page 913 of this issue, Takasaki et al.1 show that a gene of Brassica campestris, named SRK (S-locus receptor kinase), controls the pistil's ability to recognize and reject self pollen. This finding, coupled with identification of the gene that controls pollen function in self-incompatibility2,3, and of a potential substrate of SRK protein4, has brought us closer to understanding the molecular and biochemical bases of self-incompatibility in Brassica.

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Figure 1: Model for SRK-mediated self-incompatibility in Brassica, stemming from the work of Takasaki et al.1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 403 Althouse Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 16802-4500, Pennsylvania , USA

    Teh-hui Kao & Andrew G. McCubbin

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  1. Teh-hui Kao
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  2. Andrew G. McCubbin
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Correspondence to Teh-hui Kao.

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Kao, Th., McCubbin, A. A social stigma. Nature 403, 840–841 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35002702

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