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Sperm cell specification in flowering plants |
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During double fertilization in flowering plants, two non-motile sperms fertilizes two different female gametes, the egg and the bi-nucleate central cell forming respectively an embryo and a triploid endosperm of the seed. It is not clear if the two sperms are functionally predisposed to fertilize the egg or the central cell. The female gametes are distinguishable in the form of an egg and a highly vacuolated central cell and different molecular markers identify these two cell types. While such a developmental program for the female gametes is known, there is no such dichotomy of differences observed for male gametes in a large number of species. The aim of this proposal is to find if there is a cryptic heterogeneity in the two sperm cells to follow a predetermined fertilization path.
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