Morphological and histochemical differentiation of the pollen wall ofBetula pendula Roth, during dormancy up to anthesis

El‐Ghazaly, Gamal; Grafström, Elisabeth

doi:10.1007/bf01280236

Cited by 15 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 22 publications

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“…Pollen formation in annual plants lasts just a few days (Koltunow et al 1990;Smyth et al 1990). In contrast, woody perennials in temperate and cold regions require several months for the same process, since they enter into a dormant stage to survive the low winter temperatures (El-Ghazaly and Grafström 1995;Julian et al 2011;Mirgorodskaya et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anther and pollen development in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) in relation to winter dormancy

2018

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Anther and pollen development is a highly conserved process in angiosperms, but while pollen formation in annual plants occurs in a few days, in temperate woody perennials it requires several months.How anther and pollen development is framed in terms of seasonality plays a clear part in reproductive success. In this study, seasonal anther and pollen development is characterized in 2 sweet cherry cultivars over 2 years, paying special attention to the period of dormancy and unveiling the role of starch in this process. We evaluated starch content from the autumn until bud burst with the help of an image analysis system fitted to a light microscope. Microscope observations allowed the temporal relationship of pollen development to the phenological stages of flower and bud development to be determined. In both cultivars and years, anther and pollen development followed the same pattern. Development was halted by dormancy, when the anthers showed no morphological changes until several weeks after chilling fulfilment, until the milder temperatures reactivated development. After dormancy, starch was accumulated in the connective tissue until tracheary element differentiation. Quantification of starch in the connective tissue of anthers revealed its importance in supporting pollen meiosis and subsequent anther growth.

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