In the present study an attempt has been made to study the effect of Alternaria helianthi toxin on pollen germination and reaction of pollen of different genotypes to the toxin. The addition of toxin to pollen germination media led to a reduction in pollen germination. However, the inhibition of pollen germination was not uniform in all genotypes. The genotypes which are moderately tolerant to the disease at sporophytic level also produced pollen that germinated better in the presence of toxin than did pollen from highly susceptible genotypes suggesting the sporothytic gametophytic association. A strategy to utilise pollen assay to differentiate genotypes in resistanvsusceptible and pollen selection in developing disease resistant populations in sunflower is discussed.