Pollen viability in the field

The repport is written by dr. M. Bots and prof. dr. C. Mariani, Radboud University, Nijmegen. Reviewing scientific literature on polllen viability it was found that pollen viability is mainly affected by drought/dehydration, heat stress and UV-B radiation. These factors not only affect pollen viability after dehiscence, when the pollen is exposed to the environment but also during its development inisde the anther. The effect of each factors affects pollen viability in a species-specific way, depending on the physiology of the pollen grains and the presence or absence of specific structural modifications. The second goal of the project was to analyze pollen viability in the field. Three species were chosen for analysis: Brassica, strawberry and wheat.