Biotechnological methods are opening new ways in plant breeding. They allow novel strategies for improving crop productivity and quality, especially in the agrofood sector. The molecular mechanisms underlying these biotechnological approaches are presented here. Topics included are: pollen development, pollen tube growth, macrosporogenesis and fertilization and the effects of pesticides on sexual plant reproduction.
Fertilization in higher plants is a complex process consisting of two events, the fusion of the egg with one sperm cell resulting in the diploid zygote, and the fusion of embryosac nuclei with another sperm cell, leading to a triploid endosperm. This "double fertilization" is preceded by the pollination process and a long lasting interaction between the dipoid pistil and the haploid pollen tube (progamic phase). Fertilization of flowering plants results in the formation of seeds and fruits, our basic food supply.

1 Polyamines and Gene Expression of Biosynthetic Enzymes in Sexual Plant Reproduction

2 Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Plant Reproductive Organs: Regulation and Possible Functions
3 Lipid Accumulation and Related Gene Expression in Gametophytic and Sporophytic Anther Tissues
4 Sex Determination or Sex Dimorphism? On Facts and Terminology
5 Meiosis
6 Regulation of Gene Expression During Pollen Development
7 Double Fertilization in Flowering Plants: Origin, Mechanisms and New Information from in vitro Fertilization
8 Molecular Approach to Female Meiosis in Petunia Hybrida
9 Homomorphic Self-Incompatibility in Flowering Plants
10 Cell Death of Self-Incompatible Pollen Tubes: Necrosis or Apoptosis
11 Aspects of the Cell Biology of Pollination and Wide Hybridization
12 Pollen Coat Signals With Respect to Pistil Activation and Ovule Penetration in Gasteria Verrucosa (Mill.) H. Duval
13 Tapetum and Orbicules (Ubish Bodies): Development, Morphology and Role of Pollen Grainsand Tapetal Orbicules in Allergenicity
14 Development and Substructures of Pollen Grains Wall
15 Mechanisms of Microspore Polarity and Differential Cell Fate Determination in Developing Pollen
16 Genetic Control of Pollen Development and Function
17 The Use of the Vibrating Probe Technique to Study Steady Extracellular Currents During Pollen Germination and Tube Growth
18 The Role of Calcium and Associated Proteins in Tip Growth and Orientation
19 Measuring Ion Channel Activity During Polar Growth of Pollen Tubes
20 The Rheological Properties of the Pollen Tube Cell Wall
21 Actin Filament- and Microtubule-Based Motor Systems: Their Concerted Action During Pollen Tube Growth
22 The Pollen Tube Oscillator: Towards a Molecular Mechanism of Tip Growth
23 Fertilization and Zygotic Embryo Development in Vitro
24 MADS Box Genes Controlling Ovule and Seed Development in Petunia
25 Domains of Gene Expression in Developing Endosperm
26 Advances on the Study of Sexual Reproduction in the Corc-Tree (Quercus suber L), Chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) and in Rosaceae (Apple and Almond)
27 Pollen as Food for Humans and Animals and as Medicine
28 Field Release of Transgenic Virus Tolerant Tomatoes
29 Grapevine Biotechnology Coming on the Scene
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