Data analysis of spatio-temporal behavior in single cells: methods for pollen tubes

• Grant number: 25/01581-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany
• Principal Investigator: Maria Teresa Portes
• Grantee: Arthur Fernandes Stradiotto Marcusse
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 19/26129-6 - The pollen tube quest to find the ovule: spatio-temporal ion regulation as a mechanism for apical growth and guidance in single cells, AP.JP

Abstract

Image and time-series analysis are crucial for understanding single cell behavior, howeverexperiments often provide more data than conventional techniques are equipped to handle, creatinga "data deluge". I have assembled a large database of in vitro growing pollen tubes whereextracellular fluxes and intracellular concentrations of multiple ions was measured, including calcium (Ca2+), protons (H+) and chloride (Cl-), in at least 4 species (Arabidopsis, Lily, Tobacco and Tomato). Additionally, these non-invasive recordings of time-series, with external and internal variables and growth on the same cell, were measured in wild-type pollen tubes of multipleArabidopsis thaliana ecotypes, such as Col-0, WS, C24, CVI, and in diverse mutants in the Col-0background. This unique collection of over 2000 time-lapses, each recorded for up to 1h (900 datapoints), is capable of showing the multitude of signatures in the oscillatory phenomena observed inpollen tubes, and shed light on their putative biological function.