To examine the most suitable method to prepare pollen for scanning electronmicroscope observation, several fixation methods and dehydration (or drying) methods wereapplied to Arabidopsis and lily pollen obtained from flowers before and after flowering.Light and confocal laser microscope observations revealed that, in both plants, pollenobtained before flowering was swollen and wet, while that obtained after flowering wasshrunken and dry. For scanning electron microscopy, pollen was unfixed or fixed with 50%(eventually 100%) acetone, FAA (5% formalin with 50% ethanol and 5% acetic acid) or 6%glutaraldehyde solutions. It was then dried naturally in air or artificially by either criticalpoint-dry or freeze-dry machines, respectively. The results indicated that, for scanningelectron microscope observation of dry pollen, the most suitable treatment is natural dryingwithout fixation. On the other hand, to observe wet pollen, the combination of FAA orglutaraldehyde fixation with artificial drying using either machines is preferable, andfixation with acetone is unsuitable.テクニカルノー
