|
KMID : 0368420090520010027
|
|
Journal of Plant Biology
2009 Volume.52 No. 1 p.27 ~ p.34
|
|
|
Biochemistry of Nectar Proteins
|
|
Park Sang-Gyu
Thornburg Robert W.
|
|
|
Abstract
|
|
|
|
Floral nectar is a rich concoction of sugars, amino acids, vitamins, lipids, and other ingredients that is usually secreted at the base of a flower. Nectar is offered freely to attract large numbers of visiting pollinators to the flower. These visiting pollinators then transfer pollen between flowers, completing the plant’s sexual cycle to produce seeds. However, in addition to transferring pollen, visiting pollinators also transfer microorganisms between flowers when they drink nectar. Because nectar is so rich in metabolites and is secreted at the flower’s base surrounding the ovary, nectar offers a potential infection site that could severely reduce the plants’ fecundity if microorganisms invade. To circumvent this problem, plants have developed strategies to deal with microbial invaders. In ornamental tobacco, a small array of proteins is secreted into floral nectar. We have isolated and characterized each of these proteins and have identified a novel biochemical pathway, the...
|
|
|
KEYWORD
|
|
|
Hydrogen peroxide, Nectarin, Nectar protein, Nectary, Redox cycle
|
|
|
FullTexts / Linksout information
|
|
|
|
|
Listed journal information
|
|
|
|