Development of accessible and scalable maize pollen storage technology

Development of accessible and scalable maize pollen storage technology | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Biological Sciences - Article Development of accessible and scalable maize pollen storage technology Jared Carter, Jay Dinwiddie, Sarah Hill-Skinner, Nicholas Polge, and 8 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5368445/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 08 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Biology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Pollination is a critical step in the life cycle of agricultural crops and is required to form the seed, grains, and fruits that humans rely on for food and feed products. Pollen longevity is diverse across crop plant species, with some agricultural fruit trees producing pollen that can survive for years 1 , while the pollen of Oryza sativa (rice) remains viable for as little as four minutes in the open air 2 . Zea mays (maize, corn) has been subject to decades of scientific plant breeding and the value of pollen storage has been recognized for over 100 years 3 , yet the inherent short lifespan of maize pollen still hinders germplasm improvement and hybrid seed production. Here we show that suppressing respiration rate and optimizing storage environment gas exchange are the critical combination of factors for maintaining pollen viability in storage. Pollen tube germination testing and electron microscopy of pollen-silk (stigma) interaction led to the discovery of novel anti-clumping agents including microcrystalline cellulose that improved pollen flowability and increased seed set post-storage. Field testing in maize seed production demonstrated that a wide range of pollen volumes can be stored for seven days using low-cost, globally available materials and can achieve seed-set equivalency to fresh pollen. We anticipate that the pollen storage protocol which resulted from these breakthroughs will be a valuable tool for plant breeders working towards the continued genetic improvement of maize. Further scale up of the technology will provide a means to mitigate pollination challenges common to maize hybrid seed production for the greater benefit of farmers and consumers. Biological sciences/Plant sciences/Plant breeding Biological sciences/Plant sciences/Plant reproduction/Pollen Biological sciences/Plant sciences/Plant reproduction/Pollen tube Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential Competing Interest. All the authors who conducted this research are current or recent Syngenta employees. This research was entirely funded by Syngenta and authors were paid employees or paid consultants throughout the duration of the research. A subset of the authors filed patent applications on behalf of Syngenta that include claims covering many aspects of the research. Syngenta is the owner of any future granted claims. Publication of this manuscript would benefit Syngenta by increasing scientific reputation and may benefit future licensing agreements. Syngenta intends to make the pollen storage technology that resulted from this research freely available for use by academic and non-profit entities through the Syngenta Shoots program ( https://shootsbysyngenta.com/ ). Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 08 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Communications Biology → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5368445","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Biological Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":383573794,"identity":"fdf97def-498d-4235-af2a-54483f8b90c4","order_by":0,"name":"Jared 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