Pollen cell. In flowering plants the vegetative tube cell produces the pollen tube, and the generative cell divides to form the two sperm cells. Pollen is produced in the microsporangia in the male cone of a conifer or other gymnosperm or in the anthers of an angiosperm flower. Pollen grains come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and surface markings characteristic of the species (see electron micrograph, right). Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged. The smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not ("Myosotis" spp.), is around 6 µm (0.006 mm) in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be
Bacillus spore morphogenesis and germination holin family Bacillus spore morphogenesis and germination holin family The "Bacillus" Spore Morphogenesis and Germination Holin (BSH) Family (TC# 1.E.23) is a family of proteins named after a holin in "Bacillus subtilis" described to be involved in spore morphogenesis and germination by Real et al (2005). The gene encoding this holin is "ywcE." Mutants lacking this gene or its product have spores that exhibit outer coat defects. These spores lack the characteristic striatal pattern resulting in the failure of the outer coat to attach to the underlying inner coat. Finally, the mutant spores accumulate reduced amounts of dipicolinic acid. BSH proteins average