"A biochemical investigation of pollen during storage and germination"

Abstract

The experimental work, on which this thesis is based, had a twofold intention: (A) to elucidate the earliest metabolic processes occurring in the germination of pollen grains of varying species. (B) to study the effect of various storage conditions upon the longevity and metabolic processes in germinating pollen grains. Several techniques have been used but the main one for both sections involved the use of tritiated water as a biological tracer. Complementary techniques of paper-chromatography composition analysis, Warburg manometry, and microscopic investigation were also used particularly concerning (B). Although both sections of the experimental work were largely complementary and consequent investigation often overlapped both fields, (A) was considered to be the main intention of the thesis.