Germinating Pollen Under the Microscope
Germinating Pollen (Whole Mount), Magnoliophyta
This slide shows pollen grains that have started to germinate, stained with safranin and fast green. Pollen tubes carry sperm cells to the egg, so this slide shows a key step in how flowering plants make seeds.
This whole mount shows pollen grains from a flowering plant, prepared to study pollen germination and stained with Safranin and Fast Green. The grains are oval, and each has a tough outer wall called the exine, covered in tiny bumps. Some grains took up the red stain and others the green, and a dark nucleus shows inside many of them. When a pollen grain lands on a flower's stigma, it grows a thin pollen tube that carries sperm cells to the egg. Students can compare grain shape and wall texture and look for any grains that have started to grow a tube.
What to look for
- Pollen grains: Small round grains with a thick outer wall.
- Pollen tubes: Thin, thread-like tubes growing out from the grains.
- Germ pores: Thin spots in the grain wall where pollen tubes come out.
- Grain wall and tube: The thick grain wall and the thinner tube take up the two stains differently, which helps them stand out.
Questions and answers
What is a pollen tube?
A pollen tube is a thin tube that grows out of a pollen grain after it lands on a flower's stigma. It grows down through the style to the ovule and carries the sperm cells to the egg.
What does germinating pollen look like under a microscope?
Germinating pollen looks like round grains with long, thin threads growing out of them. The threads are pollen tubes, and they can be many times longer than the grain itself.
Compare it
- Category
- Botany & Plants
- Scan magnification
- 20x
- Stain
- Safranin / Fast Green
Viewing this slide in class
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