Pollen form two sperm cells. The sperm cells are carried to their destination in the tip of the pollen tube. Double-strand breaks in DNA that arise during pollen tube growth appear to be efficiently repaired in the generative cell that carries the male genomic information to be passed on to the next plant generation. However, the vegetative cell that is responsible for tube elongation appears to lack this DNA repair capability. Pollen's sporopollenin outer sheath affords it some resistance to the rigours of the fossilisation process that destroy weaker objects; it is also produced in huge quantities. There is an extensive
Bacillus spore morphogenesis and germination holin family Bacillus spore morphogenesis and germination holin family The "Bacillus" Spore Morphogenesis and Germination Holin (BSH) Family (TC# 1.E.23) is a family of proteins named after a holin in "Bacillus subtilis" described to be involved in spore morphogenesis and germination by Real et al (2005). The gene encoding this holin is "ywcE." Mutants lacking this gene or its product have spores that exhibit outer coat defects. These spores lack the characteristic striatal pattern resulting in the failure of the outer coat to attach to the underlying inner coat. Finally, the mutant spores accumulate reduced amounts of dipicolinic acid. BSH proteins average