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A High-Resolution, Single-Grain, In Vivo Pollen Hydration Bioassay for Arabidopsis thaliana

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Flotation preferentially selects saccate pollen during conifer pollination.

Andrew B Leslie¹

¹Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, 5734 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. aleslie@uchicago.edu

The New Phytologist

|June 29, 2010

Summary

Saccate pollen

Area of Science:

Plant reproductive biology
Paleobotany
Evolutionary biology

Background:

Conifers possess saccate pollen (pollen with air bladders) associated with downward-facing ovules and pollination drops.
This combination is hypothesized to facilitate pollen transport into ovules via flotation.
Previous experimental evidence for this mechanism has been inconclusive.

Purpose of the Study:

To experimentally test the effectiveness of pollen flotation in gymnosperm reproduction.
To investigate the role of saccate pollen and pollination drops in pollen capture and transport.
To understand the evolutionary implications of this reproductive strategy in seed plants.

Main Methods:

In vitro and in vivo pollination experiments were conducted.

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Modeled ovules and two Pinus species were used during their natural pollination period.

Saccate and nonsaccate pollen were utilized to compare flotation efficiency.

Main Results:

Buoyant saccate pollen effectively floated through aqueous droplets, separating from nonbuoyant pollen and spores.
Ovules receiving saccate pollen, nonsaccate pollen, or a mixture showed increased amounts and proportions of saccate pollen internally.
Flotation significantly enhanced pollen capture and transport into the ovules.

Conclusions:

Flotation is a demonstrably effective mechanism for pollen capture and transport in gymnosperms.
The prevalence of saccate pollen and inverted ovules in seed plant evolution likely resulted from the widespread use of flotation.
This mechanism provides insights into the reproductive strategies of both extant and extinct seed plants.