Double fertilization is a unique characteristic trait of flowering plants.Sperm cells have lost mobility and are transported from the stigma to the female gametophyte via the pollen tube to achieve double fertilization.Pollen tube growth and guidance is largely governed by the maternal sporophytic tissues of the stigma,style and ovule.However,the last phase of the pollen tube path is under female gametophytic control.Many genes involved in different stages of pollen tube guidance have been isolated.In this paper,mechanisms of cellular development,genes and chemical compounds involved in the process of sporophytic control and gametophytic control of pollen tube growth and guidance were reviewed.Differences of pollen tube growth and guidance between Poaceae and Brassicaceae plants were also compared.