ISSN:
1432-2048
Keywords:
Cucurbita pollen
;
Dehydration (pollen)
;
Plasma membrane
;
Pollen (viability, water)
;
Pollen wall
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Abstract During ageing of the short-lived pollen grains of Cucurbita pepo L., water loss was examined in relation to viability using biophysical (1H-nuclear magnetic resonance, NMR) and cytological methods (fluorochromatic reaction test, freezefracture and scanning electron microscopy). A semi-logarithmic representation of the pollen weight loss demonstrated the complexity of the dehydration process. A the study of proton loss using 1H-NMR indicated that two major releases water of had taken place, each with different flux rates. Pulse 1H-NMR experiments showed the occurrene of non-exponential signal decay as a function of time, indicating the existence of different fractions of water in a pollen grain sample. These fractions leave the pollen grain at different times during pollen dehydration, and one of them (that of the so-called “vital water”) can be related to pollen viability. The quantity of protons giving a signal during pulse 1H-NMR experiments was very low when the pollen grains were judged to be dead according to the fluorochromatic test. Freeze-fracture replicas of these dead pollen grains (less than 25% water content) showed that the plasma membrane had become detached from the intine surface; this ultrastructural feature might therefore be involved in the loss of pollen viability.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00393686
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