Question

Is fertilization essential for the formation of fruits in Angiosperms?

Answer 1

Fertilization in Angiosperms:

1. Angiosperms are plants that blossom and produce fruits that contain their seeds.
2. With around 300,000 species, they are the most numerous and diverse group within the kingdom Plantae.
3. Angiosperms have a process called double fertilization.
4. Syngamy is the process through which a single male gamete joins an egg to create a zygote.
5. A triploid main endosperm nucleus, also known as a PEN, is created when the other male gamete fuses with the two polar nuclei in the central cell.
6. The pollen tube penetrates the degenerated synergid and releases two sperms into the embryo sac, where one fuses with the egg to form a zygote and the other fuses with the two polar nuclei of the central cell to form a triple fusion, or endosperm nucleus.
7. This is known as double fertilization because genuine fertilization (the fusion of a sperm with an egg) is accompanied by a fertilization-like fusion process (the fusion of a sperm with the polar nuclei).