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Fertilisation

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**Historical Evolution of Fertilisation**:
– Aristotle, Spallanzani, Karl Ernst von Baer, and Oscar Hertwig made significant contributions to understanding fertilisation.
Sexual reproduction involves the cycle of fertilisation and development of new individuals.
– Meiosis, linked to the origin of fertilisation, is part of sexual reproduction in eukaryotes.
– A hypothesis suggests meiosis originated from mitosis.

**Fertilisation in Plants**:
Fertilisation in plants involves various methods across different plant groups.
Pollen tube growth is crucial for fertilisation in seed plants.
– Double fertilisation in flowering plants involves two sperm cells.
– Self-fertilisation is common in plants and offers advantages in colonisation.

**Fertilisation Mechanisms in Animals**:
– Sea urchins and mice are studied for their fertilisation mechanisms.
– Internal fertilisation in mammals involves copulation and sperm transport.
– Sperm-egg adhesion and acrosomal reaction are key steps in animal fertilisation.

**Variants of Fertilisation**:
– Allogamy (cross-fertilisation) and autogamy (self-fertilisation) are common in organisms.
– Gynogenesis, hybridogenesis, and Canina meiosis are variants of bisexual reproduction.
– Cross-fertilisation promotes genetic variability and adaptation in offspring.

**Cellular Processes in Fertilisation**:
Pollen tube growth, sperm transport, and gamete fusion are critical in fertilisation.
– Specific proteins like ZP3 and ZP2 play essential roles in sperm-egg binding.
– Meiosis, genetic recombination, and mitochondrial DNA inheritance impact zygote uniqueness.
– Research on sperm transport dynamics, oviduct roles, and chemotaxis aids in understanding fertilisation.

Fertilisation (Wikipedia)

Fertilisation or fertilization (see spelling differences), also known as generative fertilisation, syngamy and impregnation, is the fusion of gametes to give rise to a zygote and initiate its development into a new individual organism or offspring. While processes such as insemination or pollination, which happen before the fusion of gametes, are also sometimes informally referred to as fertilisation, these are technically separate processes. The cycle of fertilisation and development of new individuals is called sexual reproduction. During double fertilisation in angiosperms, the haploid male gamete combines with two haploid polar nuclei to form a triploid primary endosperm nucleus by the process of vegetative fertilisation.

Sperm and ovum fusing
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