Fertilization in Flowering Plants: 1. Bringing the Male and Female Partners Together is Outsourced

摘要

Fertilization in flowering plants appears simple when compared to that in higher animals. In reality all pre-fertilization events involved in screening and selection of the partners, so familiar in animals, take place in a subtle way in floweringplants also. As plants lack mobility, they cannot perform, ontheir own, the most important and primary requirement ofbringing the male (pollen grain) and the female (pistil) partnerstogether. This process, termed pollination, is effectivelyoutsourced largely to animal agents. Both plants and animalshave evolved fascinating adaptations to do this, which is vitalnot only for their sustenance but also for crop productivity.