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Article

A Simplified Method for Differential Staining of Aborted and Non-Aborted Pollen Grains

by
Ross Peterson
1,
Janet P. Slovin
2 and
Changbin Chen
1,*
1
Department of Horticultural Science, University of Minnesota, 380 Alderman Hall, 1970 Folwell Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
2
Genetic Improvement of Fruits and Vegetables Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Plant Biol. 2010, 1(2), e13; https://doi.org/10.4081/pb.2010.e13
Submission received: 19 March 2010 / Revised: 16 July 2010 / Accepted: 16 July 2010 / Published: 23 July 2010

Abstract

The ability to use chemical staining to discriminate aborted from non-aborted pollen grains has well-known practical applications in agriculture. A commonly used technique for assessing pollen vitality, Alexander’s stain, uses chloral hydrate, phenol and mercuric chloride, all of which are highly toxic. We describe here an improved pollen staining technique that avoids the use of a regulated chemical chloral hydrate and two extremely toxic chemicals mercuric chloride and phenol, and requires a much shorter time period for sample preparation and staining. This simplified method is very useful for field studies without high-end equipments such as fluorescence microscopes. Samples can be collected and fixed in the fields and examined in a simple laboratory that has light microscopes.
Keywords: pollen staining; Alexander’s stain; chloral hydrate; phenol pollen staining; Alexander’s stain; chloral hydrate; phenol

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MDPI and ACS Style

Peterson, R.; Slovin, J.P.; Chen, C. A Simplified Method for Differential Staining of Aborted and Non-Aborted Pollen Grains. Int. J. Plant Biol. 2010, 1, e13. https://doi.org/10.4081/pb.2010.e13

AMA Style

Peterson R, Slovin JP, Chen C. A Simplified Method for Differential Staining of Aborted and Non-Aborted Pollen Grains. International Journal of Plant Biology. 2010; 1(2):e13. https://doi.org/10.4081/pb.2010.e13

Chicago/Turabian Style

Peterson, Ross, Janet P. Slovin, and Changbin Chen. 2010. "A Simplified Method for Differential Staining of Aborted and Non-Aborted Pollen Grains" International Journal of Plant Biology 1, no. 2: e13. https://doi.org/10.4081/pb.2010.e13

APA Style

Peterson, R., Slovin, J. P., & Chen, C. (2010). A Simplified Method for Differential Staining of Aborted and Non-Aborted Pollen Grains. International Journal of Plant Biology, 1(2), e13. https://doi.org/10.4081/pb.2010.e13

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