Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 25, 2025
07:07
Author Spotlight: A High-Resolution, Single-Grain, In Vivo Pollen Hydration Bioassay for Arabidopsis thaliana
Published on: June 30, 2023
3.2K
Transformation of hard pollen into soft matter
Teng-Fei Fan1, Soohyun Park1, Qian Shi2
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore.
Nature Communications
|March 21, 2020
Summary
Researchers transformed durable pollen into responsive microgels by remodeling shells. This biomimetic approach reveals how pollen
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Plant Biology
- Materials Engineering
Background:
- Pollen's robust shell inspires biomimetic materials.
- Limited understanding of pollen's biological control over its properties.
- Need for strategies to enhance pollen's material performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- Develop a facile method to transform pollen grains into soft microgels.
- Investigate the structure-property relationships governing pollen-derived microgels.
- Explore the potential for manipulating pollen's material characteristics.
Main Methods:
- Remodeling of pollen grain shells to create microgels.
- Characterization of altered pollen substructures and their environmental stimuli responsiveness.
- Investigated pollen from diverse plant species, focusing on eudicots.
Main Results:
- Successfully transformed pollen into environmentally responsive microgels.
- Demonstrated that microgel swelling behavior is dictated by substructure-specific material properties.
- Microgel formation was observed in tested pollen species from eudicot plants.
Conclusions:
- Tuning pollen's structure dramatically alters its material properties.
- Pollen-derived microgels offer new avenues for biomimetic material design.
- Insights into pollen material science may illuminate its role in plant reproduction.
Related Concept Videos
02:40Pollination and Flower Structure
74.9K
Flowers are the reproductive, seed-producing structures of angiosperms. Typically, flowers consist of sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels. Sepals and petals are the vegetative flower organs. Stamens and carpels are the reproductive organs.
74.9K
02:39The Angiosperm Life Cycle
71.6K
Plants have a life cycle split between two multicellular stages: a haploid stage—with cells containing one set of chromosomes—and a diploid stage—with cells containing two sets of chromosomes. The haploid stage is the gamete-producing gametophyte, and the diploid stage is the spore-producing sporophyte.
71.6K
01:38Fertilization
88.6K
During fertilization, an egg and sperm cell fuse to create a new diploid structure. In humans, the process occurs once the egg has been released from the ovary, and travels into the fallopian tubes. The process requires several key steps: 1) sperm present in the genital tract must locate the egg; 2) once there, sperm need to release enzymes to help them burrow through the protective zona pellucida of the egg; and 3) the membranes of a single sperm cell and egg must fuse, with the sperm...
88.6K
01:58Fruit Development, Structure, and Function
24.6K
Fruits form from a mature flower ovary. As seeds develop from the ovules contained within, the ovary wall undergoes a series of complex changes to form fruit. In some fruits, such as soybeans, the ovary wall dries; in other fruits, such as grapes, it remains fleshy. In some cases, organs other than the ovary contribute to fruit formation; such fruits are called accessory fruits.
24.6K
02:19Morphogenesis
30.0K
Plant morphogenesis—the development of a plant’s form and structure—involves several overlapping developmental processes, including growth and cell differentiation. Precursor cells differentiate into specific cell types, which are organized into the tissues and organ systems that make up the functional plant.
30.0K
02:33Seed Structure and Early Development of the Sporophyte
30.6K
Seed structures are composed of a protective seed coat surrounding a plant embryo, and a food store for the developing embryo. The embryo contains the precursor tissues for leaves, stem, and roots. The endosperm and cotyledons—seed leaves—act as the food reserves for the growing embryo.
30.6K