In flowering plants, a pollen tube delivers two sperm to an ovule: one fuses with the egg to form an embryo (magenta), and the other fuses with the central cell to form endosperm (green, top ovule). Sperm with reduced function of HAP2(GCS1), a sperm-expressed transmembrane protein, are either completely infertile (left), fertilize the egg but not the central cell (right), or fertilize the central cell but not the egg (bottom). In this issue of PLoS Genetics, Wong et al. use molecular genetic studies in Arabidopsis to define critical features of HAP2(GCS1), a deeply conserved protein essential for gamete fusion.
Image Credit: Julian L. Wong and Alexander R. Leydon (Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry, Brown University, USA)
Interview
In the Tradition of Science: An Interview with Victor Ambros
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000853
Research Articles
Human Population Differentiation Is Strongly Correlated with Local Recombination Rate
PLOS Genetics: published March 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000886
Transgenic Rat Model of Neurodegeneration Caused by Mutation in the TDP Gene
PLOS Genetics: published March 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000887
Initial Genomics of the Human Nucleolus
PLOS Genetics: published March 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000889
Local-Scale Patterns of Genetic Variability, Outcrossing, and Spatial Structure in Natural Stands of Arabidopsis thaliana
PLOS Genetics: published March 26, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000890
Regulation of Lifespan, Metabolism, and Stress Responses by the Drosophila SH2B Protein, Lnk
PLOS Genetics: published March 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000881
HAP2(GCS1)-Dependent Gamete Fusion Requires a Positively Charged Carboxy-Terminal Domain
PLOS Genetics: published March 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000882
Multiple Signals Converge on a Differentiation MAPK Pathway
PLOS Genetics: published March 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000883
Identification and Functional Analysis of the Vision-Specific BBS3 (ARL6) Long Isoform
PLOS Genetics: published March 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000884
Parental Genome Dosage Imbalance Deregulates Imprinting in Arabidopsis
PLOS Genetics: published March 19, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000885
Deciphering Normal Blood Gene Expression Variation—The NOWAC Postgenome Study
PLOS Genetics: published March 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000873
Fatal Cardiac Arrhythmia and Long-QT Syndrome in a New Form of Congenital Generalized Lipodystrophy with Muscle Rippling (CGL4) Due to PTRF-CAVIN Mutations
PLOS Genetics: published March 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000874
Identification of the Regulatory Logic Controlling Salmonella Pathoadaptation by the SsrA-SsrB Two-Component System
PLOS Genetics: published March 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000875
Drosophila Xpd Regulates Cdk7 Localization, Mitotic Kinase Activity, Spindle Dynamics, and Chromosome Segregation
PLOS Genetics: published March 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000876
Bias and Evolution of the Mutationally Accessible Phenotypic Space in a Developmental System
PLOS Genetics: published March 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000877
Arginylation-Dependent Neural Crest Cell Migration Is Essential for Mouse Development
PLOS Genetics: published March 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000878
MiR-218 Inhibits Invasion and Metastasis of Gastric Cancer by Targeting the Robo1 Receptor
PLOS Genetics: published March 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000879
HP1 Recruitment in the Absence of Argonaute Proteins in Drosophila
PLOS Genetics: published March 12, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000880
Role of RecA and the SOS Response in Thymineless Death in Escherichia coli
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000865
Rapid Assessment of Genetic Ancestry in Populations of Unknown Origin by Genome-Wide Genotyping of Pooled Samples
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000866
Association of the OCA2 Polymorphism His615Arg with Melanin Content in East Asian Populations: Further Evidence of Convergent Evolution of Skin Pigmentation
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000867
Derepression of the Plant Chromovirus LORE1 Induces Germline Transposition in Regenerated Plants
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000868
KRAB–Zinc Finger Proteins and KAP1 Can Mediate Long-Range Transcriptional Repression through Heterochromatin Spreading
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000869
Papillorenal Syndrome-Causing Missense Mutations in PAX2/Pax2 Result in Hypomorphic Alleles in Mouse and Human
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000870
Mislocalization of XPF-ERCC1 Nuclease Contributes to Reduced DNA Repair in XP-F Patients
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000871
PPS, a Large Multidomain Protein, Functions with Sex-Lethal to Regulate Alternative Splicing in Drosophila
PLOS Genetics: published March 5, 2010 | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000872