Blog Post # 7 - Leah Chiponis

        Anthers and Stigmas and Styles, Oh My!


       Fertilization occurs in our plants and other types of Brassica Oleracea through the plants different parts. For instance, first, pollen grains are formed by meiosis and the anthers, producing haploid spores that go through mitosis. After that, meiosis in the ovule produces haploid spores as well, and after the spores going through mitosis, they become an egg. Then, pollen grains land on the stigma, which grow tubes to the ovule, with a sperm fertilizing the egg. This forms a zygote, and in each ovule, a seed is developed and during the development, the ovary wall starts to thicken and form the fruit around the seeds and eventually, the plant starts to grow.







This is a picture of our tiny yellow flower under the microscope.




This image shows how after everything from the flower has been taken off, besides the ovules, which look like tiny green bubbles. The ovary was sliced open by sharp scissors and can be seen a little bit above the structure of the ovary. The ovary is the tube like structure that is yellow/green and holds the ovules inside. This is only one of the three parts in the female reproductive system, the carpel.



This is an image that includes the stamen. The yellow end strands of each pollen fiber are called anthers, which contain male sporangia and at some point releases pollen, and these are connected to filaments, which connect the anthers and the flower, making up the whole male reproductive system, the stamens. Through meiosis in the anthers, then mitosis in the haploid spores formed, the male gametophytes are formed, and through the filaments, an egg can be fertilized.




The carpel is at the center and contains the whole female reproductive system which includes the stigma, style, and ovary. The stigma is the spheric tip at the end of the style, the skinnier part of the whole female reproductive system. When a pollen grain lands on the stigma, this is when pollination occurs and continues down to the ovary, the thicker part of the carpel to the left. The tube travels through the style down to the ovary so the sperm can fertilize an egg.