Biology · Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants · NEET
It is meiosis. The pollen mother cell (2n) undergoes a single meiotic division. One meiosis of one PMC gives four microspores. If it were mitosis, the cells would stay diploid and there would be no tetrad. NEET often tests this: the cell division in microsporogenesis is meiosis (reductional division).
Each microspore in the tetrad is haploid (n). The PMC that started is diploid (2n). Meiosis halves the chromosome number, so all four microspores are haploid. NCERT itself asks this question: 'What would be the ploidy of the cells of the tetrad?' The answer is n.
The pollen mother cell (PMC), also called microspore mother cell, is the diploid (2n) cell of the sporogenous tissue that undergoes meiosis. The microspore is the haploid (n) product formed after meiosis. So PMC = before meiosis (2n), microspore = after meiosis (n). Four microspores come from one PMC.
Microsporogenesis directly forms microspores (arranged as a tetrad), NOT pollen grains. The microspores later dissociate from the tetrad and mature into pollen grains as the anther matures and dehydrates. So: microsporogenesis makes microspores; pollen grains form afterwards. This exact wording trap is common in NEET.
Sporogenous tissue -> Pollen mother cell (PMC) -> Microspore tetrad -> Pollen grains. In NCERT letters this is B (sporogenous tissue), D (pollen mother cells), A (microspore tetrads), C (pollen grains). This exact sequence was asked in NEET 2026.
Arrange the following in the correct developmental sequence related to microsporogenesis: A. Microspore tetrads B. Sporogenous tissue C. Pollen grains D. Pollen mother cells Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Inside the microsporangium (pollen sac) of the anther. The sporogenous tissue lies in the centre of each of the four microsporangia, and meiosis of these cells produces the microspore tetrads.
Four. One PMC undergoes one meiotic division to give four haploid microspores arranged as a tetrad. Thousands of microspores form in each microsporangium because there are many PMCs.
The tetrahedral (and isobilateral) arrangement of the four microspores is common. NCERT keeps it simple: it just calls the cluster of four cells the microspore tetrad. For NEET, remember that a tetrad = four haploid microspores from one meiosis.
No. Microsporogenesis only produces microspores (as tetrads). Pollen grain formation happens later: the microspores separate from the tetrad and the microspore develops a two-layered wall and cells to become a pollen grain (the male gametophyte).
It is a high-yield naming and sequence topic. NEET repeatedly tests the correct order (sporogenous tissue -> PMC -> tetrad -> pollen grain), the type of division (meiosis), and the ploidy change (2n -> n). One clear diagram fixes several marks.
