Abstract
Methods for preparation of plant protoplasts are well established but the extension of such methods to the release of exine-free gametophytes from pollen appears to be limited (Bajaj 1974; Bajaj and Davey 1974; Bhojwani and Cocking 1972; Power 1973; Takegami and Ito 1975; Zhu et al. 1984). We have discovered that 4-methylmorpholine N-oxide monohydrate (MMNO·H2O) is an effective solvent of the intine layer when pollen grains of Lilium longiflorum Thunb. (trumpet lily) are dispersed in MMNO·H2O at its melting point, 75°C (Loewus et al. 1985). Exine-free gametophytes, which we term sporoplasts, are quickly released from their exine enclosures. With time, MMNO also disperses the empty exine ‘shells’ into immiscible droplets. Prolonged heating ruptures the sporoplasts to produce empty sporoplast envelopes or ‘ghosts’ which remain intact in the MMNO·H2O melt.
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© 1986 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
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Baldi, B.G., Franceschi, V.R., Loewus, F.A. (1986). Dissolution of Pollen Intine and Release of Sporoplasts. In: Mulcahy, D.L., Mulcahy, G.B., Ottaviano, E. (eds) Biotechnology and Ecology of Pollen. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8622-3_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8622-3_13
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