Pollen tube

A pollen tube is a cellular projection grown by a pollen grain after pollination. It carries sperm cells through plant tissue toward an ovule for fertilization.

Pollen germination: The growth of a pollen grain after it lands on a compatible surface, often producing a pollen tube. It begins the tube’s growth after pollination.
Pollen grain: A microscopic structure that carries the male gametophyte of seed plants. The tube grows from this structure after pollen germination.
Plant breeding: The deliberate selection and crossing of plants to produce desired inherited traits. Breeders depend on successful tube growth for controlled crosses to set seed.
Siphonogamy: Fertilization in which a pollen tube transports sperm cells to the egg. Pollen tube delivery is the defining feature of this fertilization mode.
Tip growth: A mode of cell expansion in which growth is concentrated at one end of a cell. The tube elongates mainly at its growing tip.
Male gametophyte: The haploid, sperm-producing stage of a plant’s life cycle. The pollen tube is an extension of the male gametophyte.
Self-incompatibility: A plant genetic system that prevents fertilization by pollen from the same plant or a related genotype. It can stop pollen tubes before they reach the ovules.
Zooidogamy: Fertilization in which motile sperm swim through water to reach the egg. Unlike tube-delivered sperm, these sperm move through an external fluid.
Chemotropism: Directional growth of a cell or organism in response to a chemical gradient. Chemical signals help guide tube growth toward the ovule.
Sperm cell: A male reproductive cell that can fuse with an egg cell during fertilization. These are the cells carried through the tube.

Linked from 19 pages