Microscopical Studies of Lychnis Alba Pollen Walls During Germination

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Abstract
Microscopical observations were made of germinating Lychnis alba pollen employing differential-interference contrast optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. A dissolution of the exine around apeeture plates was noted with a gradual structural change of the plate to that of the emerging pollen tube wall. The pollen tube wall was bilayered and many internal cytoplasmic masses of wall materials were noted—presumably due to an inhibition of the release mechanism coupled with delay in pollen tube growth. Textural ridges of the pollen tube wall surface observed with SEM were correlated with DIC microscopy involving observations of internal cytoplasmic streaming.