Question

Draw a neat diagram showing fertilization in a flower and label (a) Pollen tube (b) Male germ cell and (c) Female germ cell, on it. Explain the process of fertilization in a flower. What happens to the ovary and ovule after fertilization?

Answer 1

Fertilization in a flower:

1. Fertilization is a process of sexual reproduction in plants that takes place post pollination and germination of the pollen tube.
2. The fusion of the male gametes, that is, the pollen with the female gamete, that is, the ovum to give rise to a diploid zygote is termed fertilization.
3. It is a physiochemical procedure that takes place post the pollination of the carpel.
4. The female reproductive organ of a flower, which comprises a stigma, ovary, and a style is the carpel.
5. Flowers are the reproductive compositions of flowering plants or angiosperms.
6. The method of fertilization takes place when gametes in haploid conditions combine to give rise to a diploid zygote.
7. In the process of fertilization, the male gametes get transferred to the female reproductive organs via pollinators that are, birds, bees, etc. and the eventual product is the formation of an embryo in a seed.
8. The process of fertilization starts when the germination of pollen grain takes place post the process of pollination of the carpel.
9. This further grows into the style by developing the pathway for the pollen grains to move down to the ovary.
10. The opening of the pollen tube takes place into the ovule via the micropyle and bursts into the embryo sac.
11. Then the male nucleus combines with the nucleus of an egg within the ovule giving rise to a diploid zygote that later inflames and develops into a fruit.
12. Post fertilization, the ovary of the flower develops into a fruit, and the ovules of the flower develop into seeds.