Surface charge study on pollen with a simple microelectrophoresis instrumentation setup

Abstract

The investigation on pollen's electrophoretic mobility brings out useful information on how well the pollens behave, which is specifically important on the further exploration in agriculture and medical field. In order to characterise the pollens' electrophoretic mobility, a simple, inexpensive microelectrophoresis system was designed. The goal of this project is not limited only on the measurement of electrophoretic mobility, but also the construction of protocols of this research. Studies on surface charge of Lily pollen indicated that the net charge on its surface is positive. Two main parameters have been used to investigate the change of surface charge of Lily pollen, which includes different pH and applied voltages. The increase in applied voltages reduces the net positive charge of pollen. Moving to different pH, the weaker the acidic solution increases the net positive charge of pollen but the stronger the alkaline solution, net positive charge on pollen increases. Isoelectric point for Lily pollen might be at pH 4 and pH 7 as no movement is observed in both pH.