A new “lock-and-key” system revealed for plant reproductive barriers

Mate selection in flowering plants can occur very rapidly after male pollen contact on the female pistil, but the cellular regulators driving this process were poorly understood. In this issue of Cell, Lan et al. have discovered the components of a complex ligand-receptor system controlling pollen selection in Arabidopsis thaliana. Mate selection in flowering plants can occur very rapidly after male pollen contact on the female pistil, but the cellular regulators driving this process were poorly understood. In this issue of Cell, Lan et al. have discovered the components of a complex ligand-receptor system controlling pollen selection in Arabidopsis thaliana.