Fertilization self-incompatibility is an important characteristic of plants and, at least in a commercial sense, a desirable characteristic. In its simplest form, the specificity of self-incompatibility is determined by a single genetic locus, the S locus. The male and female parts of the plant must carry the same allele of the S-locus for self- incompatibility to occur. In Nicotiana alata, the protein encoded by the S-locus has been shown to be a glycoprotein and evidence suggests that the glycosyl moity may play an important role in the self-incompatibility event. Dr. Paul Ebert, in the laboratory of Dr. A. Clarke at the University of Melbourne will study this biological phenomenon with the goal of understanding the molecular events which occur and the resulting consequences. He will do a biochemical characterization of the glycoproteins and a cytological study to determine their site(s) and mode of action. This is a biological problem of significant fundamental interest and one which is poorly understood at the molecular level. Moreover, the economic ramifications of understanding the basis of self-incompatibility of plants are immense since optimal production of many economically important plants depends upon this phenomonum.
