Pollination: An Introduction
In angiosperms, pollination is defined as the placement or transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of the same or a different flower. In gymnosperms, pollination involves pollen transfer from the male cone to the female cone. Upon transfer, the pollen germinates to form the pollen tube and the sperm that fertilize the egg.
Self-Pollination and Cross-Pollination
Pollination takes two forms: self-pollination and cross-pollination. Self-pollination occurs when the pollen from the anther is deposited on the stigma of the same flower or another flower on the same plant. Cross-pollination is the transfer of pollen from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another flower on a different individual of the same species. Self-pollination occurs in flowers where the stamen and carpel mature at the same time and are positioned so that the pollen can land on the flower’s stigma. This method of pollination does not require an investment from the plant to provide nectar and pollen as food for pollinators. These types of pollination have been studied since the time of Gregor Mendel. Mendel successfully carried out self-pollination and cross-pollination in garden peas while studying how characteristics were passed on from one generation to the next. Today’s crops are a result of plant breeding, which employs artificial selection to produce the present-day cultivars. An example is modern corn, which is a result of thousands of years of breeding that began with its ancestor, teosinte. The teosinte that the ancient Mesoamericans originally began cultivating had tiny seeds, vastly different from today’s relatively giant ears of corn. Interestingly, though these two plants appear to be entirely different, the genetic difference between them is miniscule.
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