Types and meaning of pollen carbohydrate reserves |
| |
Authors: | E Pacini |
| |
Institution: | (1) Botany Section, Department of Environmental Biology, University of Siena, Via P. A. Mattioli 4, I-53100 Siena, Italy |
| |
Abstract: | During pollen development, soluble carbohydrates of sporophytic origin may be consumed immediately, polymerized to form starch
reserves or intine, or transformed into other molecules. Disregarding intine, in mature pollen there are three different types
of carbohydrates: (1) polysaccharides such as starch in amyloplasts or polysaccharides in cytoplasmic vesicles, (2) disaccharides
such as sucrose and (3) monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose. At dispersal, pollen may be partly or slightly dehydrated,
or not dehydrated at all. Partly dehydrated pollen has the capacity to lose or acquire water within limits without detriment
to its viability. Slightly and non-dehydrated pollen is vulnerable to water loss and quickly becomes inviable. In partly dehydrated
of pollen the carbohydrates consist of cytoplasmic polysacharides and sucrose; in slightly and non-dehydrated pollen these
are absent or in low concentrations but there may be reserves of cytoplasmic callose. Starch, glucose and fructose are found
in both types. It is postulated that cytoplasmic carbohydrates and sucrose are involved in protecting pollen viability during
exposure and dispersal. |
| |
Keywords: | Starch Cytoplasmic polysaccharides Sucrose Pollen water content Viability |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|