Sporopollenin is one of the most chemically inert biological polymers. It is a major component of the tough outer walls of plant spores and pollen grains. It is chemically very stable and is usually well preserved in soils and sediments. The exine layer is often intricately sculptured in species-specific patterns, allowing material recovered from lake sediments to provide useful information to palynologists about plant and fungal populations in the past. Sporopollenin has found uses in the field of paleoclimatology as well. Sporopollenin is also found in the cell walls of several taxa of green alga, including Phycopeltis and Chlorella. Spores are dispersed by many different environmental factors, such as wind, water or animals. If the conditions are suitable the sporopollenin-impregnated walls of pollen grains and spores can persist in the fossil record for hundreds of millions of years, since sporopollenin is resistant to chemical degradation by organic and inorganic chemicals.
Chemical composition
The chemical composition of sporopollenin has long been elusive due to its unusual chemical stability and resistance to degradation by enzymes and strongchemical reagents. Analyses have revealed a mixture of biopolymers, containing mainly long chain fatty acids, phenylpropanoids, phenolics and traces of carotenoids. Tracer experiments have shown that phenylalanine is a major precursor, but other carbon sources also contribute. It is likely that sporopollenin derives from several precursors that are chemically cross-linked to form a rigid structure. In 2019, researchers at MIT determined via thioacidolysis degradation and solid-state NMR the molecular structure of pine sporopollenin, finding it primarily composed of polyvinyl alcohol units alongside other aliphatic monomers, all crosslinked through a series of acetal linkages. Electron microscopy shows that the tapetal cells that surround the developing pollen grain in the anther have a highly active secretory system containing lipophilic globules. These globules are believed to contain sporopollenin precursors. Chemical inhibitors of pollen development and many male sterile mutants have effects on the secretion of these globules by the tapetal cells.
