Production of Pollen

The centers of the pollen sacs contain pollen

mother cells each of which divides meiotically
to give a tetrad of pollen grain
These four cells later separate
Each young grain has one nucleus but this
divides into two
One of these surrounded by denser cytoplasm
forms the generative cell and this later gives
rise to the male gametes, the other forms the
tube nucleus
The pollen grain has a double wall, a delicate
inner one of cellulose (the intine) and an outer
one of variable thickness (the exine)
Pollen grains vary in shape and size from 3-300
micro meter
They are liberated by the longitudinal rupture
of the anther lobe together with the breakdown
of the wall between each pair of sacs.
Structure and development of an ovule
One cell of the nucellus becomes enlarged and
is known as the embryo sac mother cell
This divides meiotically to give four cells, three
of which are crushed as the remaining one
enlarges to form the embryo sac

 The single nucleus within the embryo sac

divides mitotically and the two nuclei move to
opposite ends of the sac
Each of the two nuclei divides mitotically twice
so that there are four haploid nuclei at each
end of the sac
One nucleus from each end moves to the
centre and then fuse to form the primary
endosperm nucleus (central fusion nucleus)
The three remaining at the micropyle end form
the egg apparatus and the three at the other
end form the antipodal cells
Fertilisation
As the female gamete in angiosperms is
protected within the carpel, the male gamete
can only reach it via the pollen tube which
provides a channel of entry and protection for
the male nuclei
The pollen grain germinates within a few
minutes of landing on the stigma and the
pollen tube pushes between the loosely packed
cells of the style
The entire contents of the pollen grain move
into the tube, the tube (vegetative) nucleus
moving first

 Callose plugs block the older, empty parts of

the tube as it grows. The pollen tube may
secrete pectase to soften the middle lamella of
the cells of the style and the growth towards
the microplyle is thought to be chemotropically
controlled. The normal mode of entry to the
ovule is through the micropyle
The pollen tube contains three nuclei, the tube
nucleus and two male gametes derived from
the generative nucleus, which keep near the tip
as growth proceeds
When the pollen tube penetrates the embryo
sac, one nucleus fuses with the egg cell and
the other with the primary endosperm nucleus.
Since this second fusion involves three nuclei it
is called triple fusion
The fertilized egg (oosphere) gives rise to the
embryo and the fertilized primary endosperm
nucleus to the endosperm.
In non-endospermic seeds the endosperm is
used up to form the cotyledons before the seed
is ripe, but in endospermic seeds nuclear and
cellular divisions of the fertilized primary
endosperm nucleus give rise to an extensive
endosperm.
Pollination

 Cross- pollination: transfer of pollen from the

anther to the stigma of a flower on a different
plant of the same species.
Although some plants regularly show selfpollination there is a general tendency towards
cross-pollination which reduces inbreeding and
increases the variability of a population
Prevention of

inbreeding

While some plants regularly self-pollinate, most

avoid doing so because such inbreeding reduces
variability and leads to loss of vigour
Dioecious: condition is which all the flowers on a
plant are male or all female. Provided the species is
totally dioecious self- pollination is impossible
Monoecious: having separate male and female
flowers, i.e. the plant is both male and female, but
individual flowers are of one sex or the other, never
both. This does not prevent self-pollination but
makes it less likely. Maize is an example of a
monoecious plant
Protogyny : A condition in hermaphroditic or
dioecious organisms in which the female
reproductive structures mature before the male
structures.

Prototandry: