The majority of flowering plants require animals for pollination, a critical ecosystem service in natural and agricultural systems. However, quantifying useful estimates of pollinator visitation rates can be nearly impossible when pollinator visitation is infrequent. We examined the utility of an indirect measure of pollinator visitation, namely pollen receipt by flowers, using the hummingbird-...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Most plant species are visited by a diversity of floral visitors. Pollen transfer of the four most common pollinating bee species and one nectar-robbing bee of the distylous plant Gelsemium sempervirens were compared. METHODS Naturally occurring pollen loads carried by the common floral visitor species of G. sempervirens were compared. In addition, dyed pollen donor flower...

The typically distinctive and elaborate external structures and sculpturing of pollen grains have been widely used in the taxonomy and systematics of the flowering plants. The family Acanthaceae is a striking example, where the widely diverse external pollen grain morphology has proved useful in determining relationships between taxa. Detailed information for external pollen wall morphology has...

Background: There is a rapidly growing trend in the consumption of herbal remedies in the developing countries. The Phoenix dactylifera date palm pollen (DPP) is used in the traditional medicine for male infertility. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of orally administered DPP on the reproductive system of adult male rats. Methods: Fifty Sprague-Dawley rats were maintained acco...

Vacuoles perform multiple functions in plants, and VCL1 (VACUOLESS1) is essential for biogenesis with loss of expression in the vcl1 mutant leading to lethality. Vacuole biogenesis plays a prominent role in gametophytes, yet is poorly understood. Given the importance of VCL1, we asked if it contributes to vacuole biogenesis during pollen germination. To address this question, it was essential t...

The presented paper considered the pollen morphology of thirteen species belonging to seven genera of the Fabaceae family occurring in the Pau-de-Fruta Special Protection Area (SPA), Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The pollen grains of six species of Chamaecrista [C. cathartica (Mart.) H.S. Irwin & Barneby, C. debilis Vogel, C. flexuosa (L.) Greene, C. hedysaroides (Vogel) H.S. Irwin...

The identification of environmental changes by human action in the past is crucial for recovery plans and preservation of natural areas. Changes of the landscape (by human action) and natural shifts of vegetation can be showed by pollen records analysis. In this sense, pollen description of modern plants is important for use as a database for the identification of pollen samples of past. The in...