Fertilization

Fertilization:
It is the process of union of female gametes and male gametes taking place inside
embryo sac. The male gametes are brought up to embryo sac by pollen tube.
1. Growth of pollen tube: During pollination, the pollen grains lands on the
stigma and begin to germinate on it. The intine of pollen grain emerges out in
the form of a tube known as pollen tube. Each pollen tube grows through the
stigma and style to the ovary.
• Each pollen tube has two nuclei- a vegetative or tube nucleus and generative
nucleus. The tube nucleus is located near the growing tip of pollen tube and
generative nucleus divides mitotically to produce two male nuclei or male
gametes or sperm cells.
Fig: structure and germination of pollen grains to form
pollen tube.
2. Fertilization: The pollen tube gradually elongates and pierces through the style into the
cavity of the ovary.
• After arriving in the ovary, the pollen tube enters the ovule.
• Depending on the place, the entry of pollen tube into the ovule, can be of following
three type:
(i) Porogamy:
• Here the pollen tube enters the ovule from the micropylar end.
(ii) Chalazogamy: In this case the pollen tube enters the ovule from chalazal end;
however the entry into the embryo sac occurs through micropyle.
• The pollen tube pierces the nucellus and finally penetrate the wall of embryo sac.
• The tip of the pollen tube disintegrates (breaks) and the two male gametes are set free
in the embryo sac.
• The two synergids help to direct the pollen tube towards the egg.
• Out of the two male gametes one fuses with egg, it then secretes a wall around it and
becomes diploid in structure. This type of fertilization is called syngamy or generative
fertilization.
• The second male gamete fuses with secondary nuclei or polar nuclei to
form the primary endosperm nucleus and the process is called vegetative
fertilization. It is also called triple fusion and three nuclei take part in this
process.
• The male gamete perform fertilization twice in the same embryo sac
producing a diploid zygote and a triploid primary endosperm cell. This
peculiar behavior of the two male gamete is known as double fertilization.
Double Fertilization: It is the fertilization process of flowering plants, in which one
sperm cell of a pollen grain fertilizes an egg cell while a second fuses with two
polar nuclei to produce a triploid body that forms endosperm.
• It was discovered by Nawaschin (1898) in Lilium martagon
• The pollen tube releases two male gamete into the embryo sac. One of the male
gamete fuses with egg passing through synergid cell to form diploid zygote. This
is called syngamy.
• The second male gamete fuses with two polar nuclei located in central cell to
produce triploid primary endosperm nucleus(PEN).
• As this involves the fusion of three haploid nuclei it is termed as triple fusion.
• Since two types of fusions, syngamy and triple fusion takes place in an embryo
sac the phenomenon is called double fertilization.
• PEN develops into endosperm and zygote develops into embryo
Fig: Process of double fertilization
POST FERTILIZATION EVENTS:
1. Endosperm development
2. Embryo development
3. Maturation of ovule into seed
4. Maturation of ovary into fruit