Pollen DNA barcoding networks which are made up of all the interactions between plants and the animals that facilitate their pollination. Identifying the pollen carried on insects helps scientists understand what plants are being visited by which insects. Insects can also have homologous features making them difficult to identify and are themselves sometimes identified through genetic barcoding (usually of the CO1 region). Every insect that visits a flower isn’t necessarily a pollinator. Many lack features such as hairs allowing them to carry pollen while others avoid the pollen-laden anthers to steal nectar. Pollination networks are made more accurate by including what pollen is
Pollen tube During pollen tube growth, DNA damages that arise need to be repaired in order for the male genomic information to be transmitted intact to the next generation. In the plant "Cyrtanthus mackenii", bicellular mature pollen contains a generative cell and a vegetative cell. Sperm cells are derived by mitosis of the generative cell during pollen tube elongation. The vegetative cell is responsible for pollen tube development. Double-strand breaks in DNA that arise appear to be efficiently repaired in the generative cell, but not in the vegetative cell, during the transport process to the female gametophyte. Pollen tube A pollen tube