Unless you are a seriousdendrophiliac , you might not have wonder how plant reproduce . You might screw about pollen and flowers , but not really eff the detail . scientist have also been lacking some knowledge but now , a Modern field present some insight into just how complex plant sexual practice really is . And there ’s even a video .
As report in the journalTechnology , the squad were able to look at how plant spermatozoan fertilizes the egg . The spermatozoan is contained in the pollen , while the orchis is located in the pistil , which has a long stalking that the sperm must traverse . This is done using the pollen tube , a passage created by extremely tight - acting cubicle . This tube is the focus of the new enquiry .
The squad used a “ science lab - on - a - chip ” to read the growth of a pollen tube . Pollen tubes are the fastest - growing prison cell in the plant kingdom . They can grow between 1 and 2 centimeters ( 0.4 - 0.8 inch ) every hour and in some cause run to about 30 centimeter ( 11.8 inch ) . The thickness of a pollen tube is tantamount to a fraction of a human hair , but it is capable of exerting high-pitched atmospheric pressure and avoiding obstacles thanks to a feedback mechanism .
“ Thanks to the science laboratory - on - a - Saratoga chip technology we were capable to actually see and evaluate exactly what was going on within the pollen tube as it grow , " older author Professor Anja Geitmann , from McGill University , said in astatement . " We find out that the water insistence and violence that these tiny cells exercise as they push through the plant tissue paper to hit their destination is tantamount to the air pressure we put in our railroad car tires to keep them flap .
“ What is even more exciting is that we get that when the pollen tube encounters an obstruction , it changes its growth radiation diagram , hint that the cells are in some way able-bodied to ‘ feel ’ and respond to the physical resistance in their environs . It ’s very exciting to be capable to see this operation , and it leaves us with a tidy sum of interesting enquiry forward about male - female communicating . ”
The study itself expect an intriguing feat of technology . To quantify the force exerted by the pollen tube , researchers design a microscopic cantilever with a gauge built in . The tube had to forcefully push against it to continue its elongation .
The study shows that facts of life in plants is not as simple as one might think , and we are scarce scratching the surface of this field . Check out the pollen underground in action in the TV below .
