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The germinated pollen tube must drill its way through the nutrient-rich style and curl to the bottom of the ovary to reach an ovule. Once the pollen tube reaches an ovule, it bursts to deliver the two sperm cells. One of the sperm cells fertilizes the egg cell which develops into an embryo, which will become the future plant.
Pollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a single flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. [2] In a case of self-pollination, this process takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower. [2] Pollen is infrequently used as food and food supplement. Because ...
One prime example of chemotropism is seen in plant fertilization and pollen tube elongation of angiosperms, flowering plants. [4] Unlike animals, plants cannot move, and therefore need a delivery mechanism for sexual reproduction. Pollen, which contains the male gametophyte is transferred to another plant via insects or wind. [5]
Pollen germination has three stages; hydration, activation and pollen tube emergence. The pollen grain is severely dehydrated so that its mass is reduced, enabling it to be more easily transported from flower to flower. Germination only takes place after rehydration, ensuring that premature germination does not take place in the anther.
A controlled fusion of the egg and sperm has already been achieved with poppy plants. [16] Pollen germination, pollen tube entry, and double fertilization processes have all been observed to proceed normally. In fact, this technique has already been used to obtain seeds in various flowering plants and was named “test-tube fertilization”. [17]
Since most plants carry both male and female reproductive organs in their flowers, there is a high risk of self-pollination and thus inbreeding. Some plants use the control of pollen germination as a way to prevent this self-pollination. Germination and growth of the pollen tube involve molecular signaling between stigma and pollen.
After the pollen tube enters the gametophyte, the pollen tube nucleus disintegrates and the two sperm cells are released; one of the two sperm cells fertilises the egg cell (at the bottom of the gametophyte near the micropyle), forming a diploid (2n) zygote. This is the point when fertilisation actually occurs; pollination and fertilisation are ...
The anthers are joined forming a tube around the style in which the pollen is released, and the style then grows through this tube, pushing out or taking up the pollen (with variably developed hairs) and presenting it to floral visitors, after which the stigmas become receptive (i.e., with a plunger or brush pollination mechanism).