ISHS Acta Horticulturae 437: VII International Symposium on Pollination
USE OF A FLOW-CYTOMETER FOR POLLEN COUNTING - AN APPLICATION TO VICIA FABA L. |
| Authors: | S. Carré, J.N. Taséi |
| Abstract:
The accuracy of flow-cytometry for measuring pollen production by flowers was tested in a preliminary experiment conducted with Vicia faba. Thirty eight samples ranging from 200 to 3,950 grains, were deposited on slides and photographed under a microscope. Each sample was washed out into a tube and counted through a cytometer "Partec II". Counts by the microscopic photograph technique, and the cytometer, were closely correlated (r2 = 0.998). Cytometry was thus used to compare pollen removal from flowers of V. faba visited by Bombus pascuorum. The number of grains removed by pollen-collecting workers from flowers visited once or twice was 24.3 and 48.7% respectively of the initial average amount of 29,600 ± 800 (x ± se). Visits by nectar-collecting queens resulted in similar removals (35.2 and 45.9%). | |
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