Pollen Tube Growth & Pollen-Pistil Interaction — NEET Biology
📚 Practice ConceptPollen tube grows through the tissues of the stigma and style and reaches the ovary. You would recall that in some plants, pollen grains are shed at two-celled condition (a vegetative cell and a generative cell). In such plants, the generative cell divides and forms the two male gametes during the growth of pollen tube in the stigma. In plants which shed pollen in the three-celled condition, pollen tubes carry the two male gametes from the beginning. Pollen tube, after reaching the ovary, enters the ovule through the micropyle and then enters one of the synergids through the filiform apparatus. Many recent studies have shown that filiform apparatus present at the micropylar part of the synergids guides the entry of pollen tube. All these events–from pollen deposition on the stigma until pollen tubes enter the ovule–are together referred to as pollen-pistil interaction. As pointed out earlier, pollen-pistil interaction is a dynamic process involving pollen recognition followed by promotion or inhibition of the pollen. The knowledge gained in this area would help the plant breeder in manipulating pollen-pistil interaction, even in incompatible pollinations, to get desired hybrids.
Which of the following statements are NOT correct? S1: If the filiform apparatus of the synergids were non-functional, the pollen tube would likely fail to enter the embryo sac. S2: If both male gametes fused with the egg cell instead of one fusing with polar nuclei, a single triploid zygote would be formed, and no endosperm. S3: A plant exhibiting apomixis would produce seeds without the involvement of both syngamy and triple fusion. S4: If an ovule contains two functional egg cells and two pollen tubes enter the embryo sac, resulting in two separate syngamies, then polyembryony will occur with two genetically identical embryos. S5: In some flowering plants, the generative cell divides into two male gametes before pollen shedding, leading to a 3-celled pollen grain.
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