Edexcel IGCSE Biology 3.4 pollen tube growth and fertilisation

Read the passage below. Use the information in the passage and your own knowledge to answer the questions that follow.

Pollination in fruit trees

Plants need to be pollinated to produce fruits and seeds. Some plants are self-pollinated and others are cross-pollinated.

Self-pollination is usually the transfer of pollen from flowers on the same tree. In fruit trees, self-pollination also includes the transfer of pollen from another tree of the same cultivar. A cultivar is a genetically identical group of trees produced by selective breeding. Self-pollinating plants need bees or other insects to transfer pollen. Examples of self-pollinated fruit trees are plum, apricot and peach that have sweet-tasting, soft fruits.

Other fruit trees require cross-pollination and can only produce fruit by fertilisation from a different cultivar. Cross-pollination is the transfer of pollen from one cultivar to the flower of a different cultivar. Self-incompatibility prevents the same plant or cultivar from fertilising its own flowers. For example, the pollen from one cultivar of an apple tree will not fertilise trees of the same cultivar. Most hard fruit trees such as pear and apple require the presence of two different compatible cultivars for pollination to result in fruit production.

Pollen can be transferred by wind, insects or birds. Many fruit trees are pollinated by insects. Nut trees are usually pollinated by wind.

After pollination the pollen grain must germinate to lead to fertilisation. The success of pollination and fertilisation depends on favourable environmental conditions. It also requires the right pollen grain reaching the right flower, as pollen can only fertilise specific, compatible flowers. For example, pollen from a peach flower will not pollinate apple flowers.

Cross-pollinating fruit trees should be planted no more than 60 m apart. This will ensure that bees visit the trees often enough to ensure pollination. Nut trees need to be planted no more than 15 m apart.

A further complication is that a few apple and pear cultivars, known as triploids, produce sterile pollen. Triploid cultivars have three sets of chromosomes within their cells. A triploid cultivar will require another cultivar for pollination, and the trees must flower at the same time.

Describe the sequence of events from pollen landing on a flower to fruit production.