pollen mother cell

(PMC) A somatic cell that, after meiosis, forms a *tetrad of pollen grains. Many are found closely packed within the pollen sacs of angiosperms and gymnosperms. In angiosperms the pollen mother cell and the resulting pollen grains have been shown to obtain proteins and their precursors from the disintegrating tapetum that surrounds them. Compare megaspore mother cell. See also spore mother cell.