The Microfibrillar Component of the Pollen Intine Some Structural Features

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The microfibrillar polysaccharide component of the pollen intine can be isolated by progressive chemical digestion of the exine and the cellular contents and the extraction of the matrix materials. The resulting intine ‘ghosts’ reveal various characteristic structural features. The microfibrils have apparent individual diameters in the range of 5–15 nm, but they are commonly associated laterally to form ribbons, or aggregated in strands or cables of dimensions great enough to be resolved with the optical microscope. These often show preferred orientations, which can be associated with pollen grain shape and with the disposition-of the germination apertures. The apertural intine may be structurally complex, as in Abutilon hybridum, where, after the removal of the exine, the polysaccharide caps which overlie the protein storage sites of the pollen grain wall retain the elaborate patterning of the original cytoplasmic evaginations from the vegetative cell.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: