First Steps in the Successful Fertilization of Rice and Arabidopsis: Pollen Longevity, Adhesion and Hydration

Understanding the behavior of pollen during pollination is important for food security in the future. The elucidation of pollen development and growth regulation largely relies on the study of the dicotyledonous model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. However, rice (Oryza sativa) pollen exhibits different characteristics to that of Arabidopsis. The latter undergoes programmed dehydration and withstands adverse environmental conditions, whereas rice pollen is sensitive to desiccation. Moreover, the short longevity of rice pollen significantly hampers hybrid seed production. Although the “omics” data for mature rice pollen have been accumulated, few genes that control pollination and pollen hydration have been identified. Therefore, to facilitate future studies, it is necessary to summarize the developmental processes involved in pollen production in rice and to consolidate the underlying mechanisms discovered in previous studies. In this review, we describe the pollen developmental processes and introduce gametophytic mutants, which form defective pollen in Arabidopsis and rice. In addition, we discuss the perspectives on the research on pollen longevity, adhesion and hydration.