THE CRITERIA OF MEASUREMENT OF THE INORGANIC ACID TEST OF POLLEN VIABILITY

The application of sulphuric acid to pollen causes the formation of pr otrusions of the vegetative cell from the germinative pores of pollen grains, and in aperturate pollen these protrusions resemble true polle n tubes. In this study, the sulphuric acid-induced pseudo pollen tubes of Petunia were examined to determine the criteria of measurement of this pollen viability testing procedure. The inorganic acid test of po llen viability does not differentiate between living and dead pollen g rains, as was reported earlier, but measures the presence of the veget ative cell, bounded by an intact cell membrane. The procedure requires only low-magnification microscopy and takes a few seconds to perform. It is a simple, rapid, indirect microscopic test for the estimation o f pollen viability in fresh pollen under field conditions. This proced ure facilitates the obtaining of naked male gametophytes, and further development of the method may assist in the study of organelles and th e internal structure of the pollen grain.