"Double Fertilization" provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of this central event in the reproduction and development of flowering plants. Written by Val Raghavan, The Ohio State University, an acknowledged expert in plant developmental biology, the book vividly describes the molecular and cellular steps of the unique and complex fertilization process that culminates in the formation of embryo and endosperm, focusing on the latest results from the model plant Arabidopsis. The text is complemented by excellent illustrations, including 16 color plates. Since embryo and endosperm constitute the edible parts of many seeds and grains widely used in human and animal nutrition, an understanding of the fertilization process has great relevance for genetic engineering aimed at improving the nutritional quality of crop plants. This book is ideally suited to researchers and graduate students seeking a coherent view of current perspectives on embryogenesis and endosperm development in flowering plants.

Biotechnological methods are opening new ways in plant breeding. They allow novel strategies for improving crop productivity and quality, especially in the agrofood sector. The molecular mechanisms underlying these biotechnological approaches are presented here. Topics included are: pollen development, pollen tube growth, macrosporogenesis and fertilization and the effects of pesticides on sexual plant reproduction. Fertilization in higher plants is a complex process consisting of two events, the fusion of the egg with one sperm cell resulting in the diploid zygote, and the fusion of embryosac nuclei with another sperm cell, leading to a triploid endosperm. This "double fertilization" is preceded by the pollination process and a long lasting interaction between the dipoid pistil and the haploid pollen tube (progamic phase). Fertilization of flowering plants results in the formation of seeds and fruits, our basic food supply.

International Review of Cytology

In recent years there has been a growing awareness of the importance of reproductive biology to crop production and there has been a tremendous increase in research on reproductive structures of higher plants. Presented here is a wide information of different aspects of micro- and macrosporogenesis, pollen-stigma interaction and recognition, pollen tube growth, cytoskeleton, in vitro and in vivo gamete fusion, and incompatibility. The most advanced techniques employed in studies on reproductive biology of higher plants are described in detail.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This book contains the proceedings of the International Symposium on the Mechanisms of Sexual Reproduction in Animals and Plants, where many plant and animal reproductive biologists gathered to discuss their recent progress in investigating the shared mechanisms and factors involved in sexual reproduction. This now is the first book that reviews recent progress in almost all fields of plant and animal fertilization. It was recently reported that the self-sterile mechanism of a hermaphroditic marine invertebrate (ascidian) is very similar to the self-incompatibility system in flowering plants. It was also found that a male factor expressed in the sperm cells of flowering plants is involved in gamete fusion not only of plants but also of animals and parasites. These discoveries have led to the consideration that the core mechanisms or factors involved in sexual reproduction may be shared by animals, plants and unicellular organisms. This valuable book is highly useful for reproductive biologists as well as for biological scientists outside this field in understanding the current progress of reproductive biology.

The study of plant development using molecular and genetic techniques is rapidly becoming one of the most active areas of research on flowering plants. Developmental Biology of Flowering Plants relates classical developmental work with the outstanding problems of the future in the study of plant development. An important feature of this book is the integration of results from molecular and genetic studies on various aspects of plant development in a cellular and physiological context.