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Pollenkitt of some monocotiledons: lipid composition and implications in pollen germination.

Plant Biology 2019 April 30
The composition of pollenkitt and its role in the progamic phase of reproduction are little known. With the aim of extending knowledge on these topics, we chose for the study two monocotyledons rich in pollenkitt, with bicelled and long-lived pollen and dry type stigma, Crocus vernus Hill ssp. vernus and Narcissus poeticus L. Fatty acids of pollenkitt were assayed with a gas chromatography system. Germination tests were performed in vivo by pollinating the stigmas with a beard hair under a stereomicroscope, and in vitro in liquid culture medium, using pollen either treated or not with carbon disulfide to remove pollenkitt. The pollen tubes percentages were evaluated using the fluorescence microscopy techniques. Scanning electron microscopy was used to examine pollen and to follow the early post-pollination stages. Pollenkitt forms bridges between pollen grains but not between grains and stigma papillae. It consists of a mixture of 25 fatty acids, most with long and unsaturated chains among which omega acids. The same acids with some differences in percentages persist on the peritapetal membrane. After its removal the pollen loses adhesiveness and dries quickly, but it retains the full capacity for germination on the papillae and even to trigger germination in contiguous pollen grains that do not touch the papillae. The results, while confirming for pollenkitt a key role in protecting pollen and favoring pollination, suggest for it secondary roles in the progamic phase, and they highlight the interactive ability of the pollen regardless of lipid shell. The predominance of fatty acids with 18:3 and 16:0 as already noted in Brassica napus pollenkitt, suggests their hierarchy independently of plant species. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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