EN
In vitro placental pollination can be employed to overcome barriers of self-incompatibility and cross-incompatibility. Pollen grains of self-incompatible plants are capable of germinating directly on ovules, and the whole process of sexual reproduction can be accomplished. In some combinations of crosses, direct pollination of ovules enables prezygotic incompatibility barriers to be overcome. As a result, hybrid embryos or even hybrid plants can develop, depending on the partners crossed. Pollen grains germinate abundantly on immature ovules irrespective of the stage of megasporogenesis or megagametogenesis, and their tubes can penetrate the integuments and the nucellus cells. Preliminary investigations revealed that pollen grains of seven selected species of gymnosperms germinated on ovules of various species of Angiospermae. Embryological analysis of ovules of Melandrium album fixed 3 days after pollination with pollen of Pinus wallihiana revealed the presence of remnants of pollen tubes and 2-celled embryos in the embryo sacs. Those preliminary observations have not been described heretofore.