What do pollen grains look like

Scientists, teachers, writers, illustrators, and translators are all important to the program. If you are interested in helping with the website we have a Volunteers page to get the process started. Digging Deeper. Digging Deeper: Depression and the Past. Digging Deeper: Germs and Disease. Digging Deeper: Milk and Immunity. By Dr. Pollen Gallery Pollen up-close. Can Gila monsters climb trees? Sample Collection. When viewing pollen grains under stereo microscope, it is advisable to view treated pollen washed using a little alcohol and untreated grains separately in order to see the difference.

The procedure involves the following simple steps:. Students may also place a healthy plant anther with pollen without treating it with alcohol or adding glycerine on the stage of the stereo microscope and try observing how it appears. Therefore, alcohol may be used to remove the oily layer and thus get a better look at the grain surface. Fifty percent glycerine is used for the purposes of hydrating the grains and making them swell for good viewing.

However, the shape and appearance of the grains will vary depending on the type of pollen under investigation. For untreated grains, there is poor contrast compared to treated pollen grains.

Glycerol Jelly Method. The glycerol jelly technique is one of the most common mounting techniques used for pollen. It involves using glycerol jelly, which consists of 10 grams of gelatin, 35ml of distilled water as well as 30 ml of glycerol. For best possible results, students are advised to use freshly collected pollen. When viewed under the microscope, the stained slide is clearer because of better contrast.

The grains will appear as tiny ovoid particles with what seems like a scaly surface or ornamentations. However, the appearance of the grains is also largely dependent on the type of plant from which the pollen was obtained. Wet Mount Technique. Dry Mounting Technique. This is the simplest method that involves the following simple steps:. Pollen tubes are important structures that grow down the style allowing for gametes to the transported to the ovary for fertilization.

To view pollen tubes under the microscope, Farmer's solution and sodium hydroxide can be used. When viewed under the microscope, the tubes will be seen to look like fragile tubes like flexible straws. For electron microscopy, acetolysis is one of the most popular methods used for preparing pollen. However, it has been shown to cause distortions, which influenced the development of a new and better method.

One of the best and most recent methods involves the use of Aerosol-OT and amyl acetate. When viewed under the SEM, the grains can clearly be seen as inflated or deflated structures of varying shapes with rough surfaces or cleavages depending on the type of pollen being viewed. When viewed under the microscope compound microscopes or electron microscopes the grains may have different types of ornamentations with the ornamentations being irregularly distributed on the surface of the grains.

For instance, whereas some of these ornamentation may be visible all across the surface of the grain, others may only be present on polar ends of the grain or across given sections on the surface of the grain.

Learn more about Microscope Slides and Preparation.