Pollen Tube (Noun)
Meaning
(botany) a slender tubular outgrowth from a pollen grain when deposited on the stigma for a flower; it penetrates the style and conveys the male gametes to the ovule.
Classification
Nouns denoting plants.
Examples
- The pollen tube grows downward through the style and into the ovary, where it will deliver the sperm to the egg cell.
- In angiosperms, a pollen tube is formed after pollination to facilitate fertilization.
- Once the pollen grain germinates on the stigma surface, a pollen tube emerges and begins to elongate.
- The nucleus of the pollen grain migrates down the pollen tube, eventually reaching the ovary.
- During fertilization, the pollen tube releases its sperm into the ovule, where one unites with the egg cell.