A GENE that prevents plants from being fertilised by their own pollen has
been found by biologists at Cornell University. Christel Schopfer and her
colleagues found that kale (Brassica oleracea) expresses a gene for 鈥淪
locus cysteine-rich protein鈥� (SCR) in its anthers鈥攖he part of the flower
that produces pollen.
To test the effect of the gene, the researchers transferred the SCR
gene from one kale plant to another. They found that the first plant would no
longer accept pollen from the other (Science, vol 286, p 1697). But
just how the gene controls the pollen is still uncertain.