Question

The exine of pollen grain is hard and resistance to enzyme action. Give reason.

Answer 1

Pollen, a mass of microspores in a seed plant appearing usually as a fine dust. Each pollen grain is a minute body, of varying shape and structure, formed in the male structures of seed-bearing plants and transported by various means (wind, water, insects, etc.) to the female structures, where fertilization occurs. Pollen consists of one or more vegetative cells and a reproductive cell. A pollen grain itself is not the male gamete. Most pollen grains consist of three distinct parts. The central cytoplasmic part is the source of nuclei responsible for fertilization. The other parts constituting the wall of the grain are an inner layer, the intine, and an outer layer, the exine. The intine consists, at least in part, of cellulose or hemicellulose. The outer and most durable layer, the exine, is very resistant to disintegration; treatment with intense heat, strong acids, or strong bases has little effect upon it. The constituents of the exine have been termed sporopollenins.