Describe the post-fertilization changes taking place in a flowering plant?
(i) Development of Endosperm:- Endosperm development precedes embryo development. The most common method of endosperm development is the nuclear type where triploid endosperm (PEN) undergoes repeated mitotic divisions without cytokinesis – Subsequently cell wall formation occurs from the periphery & endosperm store food materials. (ii) Development of Embryo:- The zygote divides by mitosis in a pro-embryo first. Later development causes the production of a globular and heart-shaped embryo & which ultimately becomes a horseshoe-shaped embryo with one or more than one cotyledon. In a dicot embryo, the portion of the embryonal axis about the level of attachment is epicotyl and it reduces into plumule while part of the embryonal axis below the level of attachment is hypocotyl and finally terminates into a radicle.
