Improved method for estimating pollen DNA content

Improved method for estimating pollen DNA content

Kron and Husband describe a simple method for extracting pollen nuclei for measuring DNA content with flow cytometry, involving the bursting of pollen through a nylon mesh. The method compares favourably to other common protocols, and in tests on 80 taxonomically diverse species the data meet quality control criteria for genome size studies in more than 80% of species tested, and also meet more stringent criteria for cell cycle analysis in more than half of the species. In addition, they estimate genome size for six species using pollen nuclei and obtain results within 2.5% of leaf nuclei estimates. The method should facilitate the use of pollen for measuring genome size and improve estimation of unreduced pollen production using flow cytometry.