A pollen tube is part of the male gametophyte of seed plants. It acts as a conduit to transport the male gamete cells from the pollen grain, either from the stigma (in flowering plants) to the ovules at the base of the pistil, or directly through ovule tissue in some gymnosperms. In maize, this single cell can grow longer than 12 inches to traverse the length of the pistil.
Pollen tubes were first discovered by Giovanni Battista Amici.
Read more about Pollen Tube: The Pollen Tube in Angiosperms, Pollen Tubes: An Excellent Model, Pollen Tube Guidance
Famous quotes containing the words pollen and/or tube:
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—Calvin Trillin (b. 1935)
“One of the great natural phenomena is the way in which a tube of toothpaste suddenly empties itself when it hears that you are planning a trip, so that when you come to pack it is just a twisted shell of its former self, with not even a cubic millimeter left to be squeezed out.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)