Prepare the pollen germination medium by dissolving 10g sucrose, 30mg calcium nitrate and 10mg boric acid into 100ml of distilled water using a spatula.
Stir the solution gently by using a glass rod.
By using a dropper take a drop of medium on a glass slide.
Take the flower and sprinkle mature pollen grains on the drop using a needle.
Take a cover slip and place it gently on a glass slide with the aid of needle.
Using filter paper remove the excess medium from the slide.
Place the glass slide under the compound microscope and observe the pollen germination.
Simulator Procedure
Drag and drop the dropper with Sucrose solution towards the glass slide to put few drops of solution on to it.
Drag and drop the flower to separate the pollen grains from it towards the glass slide.
Place the cover slip on the slide.
Wait for 10 minutes, the clock will be displayed to show the wait time until the pollen grains germinate.
Drag and drop the slide towards the microscope to place it on the microscope.
You can move the slide to observe each part of the sample by clicking on the directional arrow of the ‘Slide adjustment’.
Calculate the percentage of pollen germination from the microscopic view.
Adjust arrows to change the field to note different readings.
Below is a given worksheet where you can enter the readings.
You can determine the percentage of pollen germination by counting the total number of pollen grains seen in the microscope field, and the number of pollen grains that have germinated and calculate the percentage of pollen germination and add that in the input field.
(Number of germinated pollen grains in a field of microscope) / (Number of pollen grains in a field of microscope) X 100.
Click on the ‘Reset’ button to redo the experiment.
Observations
The pollen grain begins to germinate in the nutrition medium.
A pollen tube is produced when the tube cell expands and exits the pollen grain through one of the germ pores.
The pollen tube's tip is where the tube nucleus descends.
The generative cell also passes into it. It soon divides into two male gametes.
