The literature related to the expression of heat shock protein (hsp) g
enes in developing pollen and in the mature male gametophyte has been
surveyed. In general, mature pollen lacks a normal heat shock response
. In mature pollen of several species either no hsps are synthesized i
n response to heat stress or, if synthesized, only a subset are made a
nd the response is weak at both the transcriptional and translational
levels, compared to the response in vegetative tissues. In developing
pollen, however, a subset of hsps is induced in response to heat shock
. In addition, certain hsp genes or heat shock cognate (hsc) genes are
activated during normal pollen development in the absence of heat str
ess, indicating that these genes are likely to have important developm
ental functions. How the distinctive activation pattern of hsp and hsc
genes relates to the known sensitivity of pollen to heat stress is di
scussed.