Tip localized Ca2+ pulses are coincident with peak pulsatile growth rates in pollen tubes of Lilium longiflorum.

It is known that locally elevated Ca2+ at the growing tips of pollen tubes is necessary for pollen tube elongation. Here we show that this localized Ca2+ is also temporally regulated and is closely associated with pulsatile tip growth. Lilium longiflorum pollen tubes were injected with the photoprotein, aequorin, and the Ca2(+)-dependent light output was detected with a low noise photon-counting system. Ca2+ pulses with a mean period of 40 seconds were invariably associated with growth. The pulses were sporadic and of low amplitude for about the first 1.5 hours after germination. With subsequent growth, pulses increased in amplitude and the period between pulses became more regular. We have localized these Ca2+ pulses to the elongating end of the growing tube. The Ca2+ pulses are asymmetrical, rising more slowly than they fall. We estimate that the Ca2+ concentration at the peak of the pulses reaches nearly 10 microM. The addition of 100 microM La3+, a Ca2+ channel blocker, extinguished the pulses. An analysis of growth of elongating tubes establishes that extension is pulsatile, with a 42 second period between pulses. Calcium imaging, using the fluorescent indicator, Calcium Green dextran, shows that calcium pulses are coincident with peak growth rates.