Summary
In vitro pollination was conducted using excised segments of maize female spikelets to determine the effects of age and silk length on fertilization efficiency and developmental pattern. Ovary development after 15 days resulted in: (1) normal kernels, (2) abnormal kernels and (3) enlarged ovaries; the percentages of each class varied with age. Evidence of double fertilization was observed in both normal and abnormal kernels. In vitro fertilization was traced using silk excision and autoradiography with 32P-radiolabelled pollen and occurred between 4 and 7 h after the pollination of 4.5-cm-long silks. This study supports the validity of the in vitro pollination method for studying fertilization and emphasizes the importance of using a developmentally sensitive index (silk length) for establishing female developmental stage.
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Dupuis, I., Dumas, C. In vitro pollination as a model for studying fertilization in maize (Zea mays L.). Sexual Plant Reprod 2, 265–269 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00195586
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00195586