Fruit formation, computer artwork. At left is a carpel, the female reproductive structure of a plant. A pollen tube (red line) has grown down from a p

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Fruit formation, computer artwork. At left is a carpel, the female reproductive structure of a plant. A pollen tube (red line) has grown down from a pollen grain (male sex cell, red dot) to the ovary. Nuclei from the pollen grain fuse with the egg cell in the ovary to form a zygote and also with polar nuclei to form a cell that will become nutrient-rich endosperm for the seed. After fertilisation there is a period of rapid cell division followed by a period of cell expansion, which greatly increases the volume of the fruit.

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Size: 5000px × 3505px
Photo credit: © FRANCIS LEROY, BIOCOSMOS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: angiosperm, angiosperms, artwork, background, biological, biology, black, botanical, botany, carpel, developing, development, double, embryo, endosperm, fertilisation, flora, fruit, fruiting, illustration, maturation, maturing, nature, ovary, plant, reproduction, seed, sexual, zygote