Figure 4.

Effect of miR171 family downregulation on pollen quality and quantity. (A) Quantitation of total, aborted, non-aborted, and germinated mature pollen grains per anthesis flower of indicated genotype (n = 30). Asterisks indicate significant difference as determined by Student’s t-test (p ≤ 0.01). (B) Scanning electron micrographs of dehydrated pollen grains from indicated genotypes. Note the high number of collapsed pollen grains in the 35S:STTM171 sample. Inset shows magnified views of few representative pollen grains from each genotype. PW: pollen wall; GA: germinal aperture. (C) Scanning electron micrographs of polar view of representative mature pollen grains from indicated genotypes. The locations of the germinal aperture are indicated by asterisks.