Summary
Scanning electron microscopical pictures reveal the presence of a wax layer on the stigma papillae of Brassica. In young buds the stigma papillae are not completely covered with wax. It is shown that after a compatible pollination the pollen grains ‘stick’ to this wax layer, so that it is pierced and the pollen exine touches the cuticle sensu stricto; the papillae collapse. The wax layer seems to be the incompatibility barrier.
Pollen germination and penetration of pollen tubes into the papillae walls is also shown. After incompatible combinations no ‘sticking’-reaction and consequently no germination takes place; the papillae stay turgescent. The importance of this initial pollen-stigma interaction, the ‘recognition’, is discussed in connection with the sporophytically determined self-incompatibility system.
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Roggen, H.P.J.R. Scanning electron microscopical observations on compatible and incompatible pollen-stigma interactions in Brassica. Euphytica 21, 1–10 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00040542
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00040542