Auxin is an important plant growth regulator, and plays a key role in apical-basal axis formation and embryo differentiation, but the mechanism remains unclear. The level of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) during zygote and embryo development of Nicotiana tabacum L. is investigated here using the techniques of GC-SIM-MS analysis, immunolocalization, and the GUS activity assay of DR5::GUS transgenic ...

Fertilization is a hallmark event of sexual reproduction marked by the fusion of male and female gamete to form zygote. It is a highly complex, yet a robust process that is intricately regulated by various signalling molecules. A healthy fertilization is determined by the quality of zygote which is contingent on the health of egg and sperm. The relationship between infertility and gametic healt...

Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT) is an assisted reproductive technology [5] (ART) first used in 1986 to help those who are infertile conceive a child. ZIFT is a hybrid technique derived from a combination of in vitro [6] fertilization [7] (IVF) and gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) procedures. Despite a relatively high success rate close to that of IVF, it is not as common as its paren...

The formation of the zygote in cotton is accompanied by marked changes in the number and aggregation of the ribosomes. The zygote is formed approximately 14 hr after pollination but does not divide for some 56-60 hr. Electron microscope studies of the zygote during this period reveal a series of changes in the size and distribution of polysomes which may provide information on this important st...

Eggs of the sea urchin, Arbacia punctulata, treated with 3% urethane for 30 sec followed by 0.3% urethane and inseminated are polyspermic and fail to undergo a typical cortical reaction. Upon insemination the vitelline layer of urethane-treated eggs either does not separate or is raised only a short distance from the oolemma. 1-6 min after insemination, almost all of the cortical granules remai...

When mating type plus and minus gametes of Chlamydomonas are mixed, they agglutinate with each other via their flagella, fuse, then initiate the zygote formation program which includes synthesis of the zygote cell wall, fusion of nuclei and chloroplasts, and the digestion of chloroplast DNA from the minus parent. The mRNAs from gamete and zygote cells was isolated and hybridized to cDNA-macroar...

During embryonic pattern formation, the main body axes are established and cells of different developmental fates are specified from a single-cell zygote. Despite the fundamental importance of this process, in plants, the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. We show that expression dynamics of novel WOX (WUSCHEL related homeobox) gene family members reveal early embryonic patterning event...