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FERTILIZATION IN OEDOGONIUM. II. POLYSPERMY 1
Author(s) -
Hoffman Larry R.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.1529-8817.1973.tb04096.x
Subject(s) - polyspermy , biology , human fertilization , mechanism (biology) , ploidy , botany , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , oocyte , embryo , philosophy , epistemology , gene
SUMMARY This paper presents the first description of polyspermy in Oedogonium. It has been observed twice, in living material; in each, case it occurred when a pair of haploid spermatozoids initiated plasmogamy in rapid succession with, a single haploid egg. Supportive evidence for polyspermy has also been obtained ultrastructurally. Polyspermy in Oedogonium is anomalous; ordinarily it appears to be prevented by some mechanism initiated at the time of gametic fusion. The present study not only supports the existence of such a mechanism, but calls attention to the fact that further knowledge of its operation may only be possible through experimental studies designed to selectively impair the mechanism.