Officially Launched: Ampha Z40
Pollen Analyzer

Plant Breeding

Temperature, humidity and factors like the application of pesticides or inbreeding depression have a direct impact on pollen viability, quantity and seed yield.

Now, with the Ampha® Z40, you can get a precise measure of the pollen viability along your Pollen Supply Chain in the lab or greenhouse, while eliminating time-consuming and inaccurate germination and staining assays.

Increase breeding efficiency and get to market earlier through:

  • Improving crossing success rates
  • Maximizing the time window for crosses
  • Adjusting the pollen vigor in master lines
  • Breeding for heat tolerance by selecting for pollen viability under heat stress
  • Monitoring the sterility of cytoplasmic male sterile (CMS) lines
Picture of Prof. Ivo Rieu of University of Radboud

Prof. Ivo Rieu, Radboud University

“The Amphasys Pollen Analyzer system has enabled us to analyze thousands of tomato plants grown at high temperatures and led to the discovery of several old tomato varieties that can maintain their pollen health and final yield much better than the current ones.”

Hybrid Seed Production

Control over pollen quality and pollination along the Pollen Supply Chain is a key success factor to ensure high quality seed and yield.

Excessive warm nights, draughts, rain and pesticide applications negatively affect the pollen viability, quantity and timing of pollen shed, leading to a reduced seed set and yield loss. Consequently, measuring and understanding pollen quality in hybrid seed production allows maximization of yields, improvement of the female to male ratio and forecasting of your yield.

Enhance hybrid seed production by:

Todd Krone of PowerPollen

Todd Krone, CEO of PowerPollenSM

“We use the instrument to check pollen quality before pollination, to improve pollen preservation and for rescue pollinations when natural pollination was not sufficient to get a good seed yield.”

Fruit and Nut Production

Effective pollination is indispensable to ensure high seed and fruit yield. Asynchronous flowering of pollinator trees in the orchard, rising temperatures and droughts, as well as the decline of natural insect pollinators severely affect this biological process and cause significant losses in tree nut and fruit production.

Increase crop yield, reduce risk and save money by:

Pollen Viability in Hazelnut Production

Challenges in Pollen Analysis

Pollen Analysis with the Ampha Z32 is faster and more accurate than analysis with microscopy.

Research

Traditional methods to determine pollen viability often rely on tedious sample preparation steps and labor intensive microscopy analysis.

With the Amphasys Pollen Analyzer, sample preparation is just a simple resuspension and filtration that takes less than a minute and works for all species (currently over 250 species tested)!

Pollen Viability & Seed Set

Graph showing the correlation of Pollen Viability and Seed Set in Tomato

Seed set in tomato as a result of pollination with pollen of varying quality.

Pollen viability measured on the Ampha Z40 before pollination: A = 31%, B = 3.5% and C = 0.3%. The size of fruits resulting from pollinations with these pollen samples (pictures), as well as the seed set (right graph) correlate with the pollen viability.

Other species show similar behavior, although each species has individual correlation patterns.

Pollen Viability & Germination

Graph showing the correlation of Pollen Viability and Pollen Germination

Pollen viability analysis with IFC and in vitro germination show an excellent correlation (R2 = 0.96). While over 10’000 pollen per minute were analyzed with the Ampha Z32, only 100 pollen could be counted in the same time with the germination assay. This high count results in a standard deviation of <1% for IFC.

While a single germination experiment takes hours to days and is labor intensive, IFC results are obtained within only about two minutes.

Pollen Count

Pollen Counting with the Ampha Z32 Pollen Analyzer

Counting pollen as part of a pollen dispersion, pollen potential or pollen emission analysis is the standard method for calculating the number of males needed for optimal pollination. 

An accepted method relies on collecting the pollen in Isoton media for preservation and counting with a Coulter Counter. The comparison between the Ampha Z40 and the Coulter counter shows that besides providing viability data, the Ampha Z32 can at the same time also be used to rapidly count large amounts of pollen.

Pollen Ploidy Analysis

Pollen ploidy analysis with the Ampha Z32.

Analysis of ploidy in Watermelon Pollen (Citrullus lanatus).

Diploid and tetraploid samples can be distinguished by analyzing their average size. Similar results were obtained for many other species like kiwi, tomatoes, potatoes, wheat and cyclamen.

Developmental Stages

No time-consuming DAPI staining is required to determine the stage in microspore development anymore! IFC on the Ampha Z40 is so sensitive, it allows to distinguish between unpolarized and polarized microspores, as well as bi-cellular and tri-cellular pollen.

Besides staging, the Ampha Z32 allows early detection of induction success, allowing earlier selection of cultures. Optimize your DH induction protocols and monitor the induction success.

Amphasys Pollen Analyzers

Amphasys Pollen Analyzers provide pollen quality metrics which enable you to improve your plant breeding and seed production processes:

The Ampha Z40 is a high-end laboratory device. It offers full flexibility for all research tasks and predefined templates for routine quality control.

The Ampha P20 is a mobile high-tech instrument for greenhouses and fields. With its easy handling and automated data analysis you get immediate results on site.

Consultancy Services

Amphasys offers consultancy services to answer your questions and for optimization of your pollen analyses for breeding and production processes

Pollen Sample Analysis

  • You have heard about pollen viability analysis, but you are hesitant to buy an instrument right away?
  • You know about pollen analysis, but you want to determine the viability of only one line at the moment?
  • You are interested in pollen ploidy determination? Or you are just curious to see how pollen viability and concentration can be determined by our technology?

No problem! You send us your sample and we run the measurement for you. Our pollen experts will then discuss the results with you and provide the data.

Amphasys offers consulting services

Consultancy Services

  • You want to optimize your breeding or seed production processes but don’t know where to start?
  • You have realized that pollen plays an important role in the improvement of your business activities and need expert input?
  • You want to analyze your pollen supply chain for efficieny potential? Or you want to establish systematic quality control of your pollen? 

 

We are happy to help! Our pollen experts support you and together with you, elaborate efficient processes to get the most of your precious resources: Pollen!

What Our Customers Say