self-fertilization

Fusion of male and female sex cells (gametes) produced by the same individual. This type of fertilization occurs in bisexual organisms, including most flowering plants, numerous protozoans, and many invertebrates. Many organisms capable of self-fertilization can also reproduce by means of cross-fertilization. As an evolutionary mechanism, self-fertilization allows an isolated individual to create a local population and stabilizes desirable genetic strains, but it fails to provide a significant degree of variability within a population and thereby limits the possibilities for adaptation to environmental change.

Self-Fertilization

the merging of male and female sex cells belonging to a single bisexual individual (see HERMAPHRODITISM). Self-fertilization is rarely observed in nature. In the process of evolution, most organisms acquired adaptations that made self-fertilization impossible and ensured cross-fertilization. These adaptations increased the genetic variation of the off spring, promoting, in turn, the elaboration of new adaptations and the development of more viable offspring. Self-fertilization is sometimes observed in hydras, flatworms, certain annelids, mollusks, and fishes. Among plants it is observed in many algae, fungi, and flowering plants. In flowering plants self-fertilization is a result of self-pollination.

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Self-Fertilization (redirected from self-fertilising)

self-fertilization

Self-Fertilization
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