Abstract
IN the ferns the embryo develops within the gametophyte and is nutritionally dependent on it until the first root and leaf emerge. In the homosporous leptosporangiate ferns the period of complete nutritional dependence is at least ten days and is usually longer. Despite the fact that the young embryo is in intimate physical contact with the gametophyte during this period, the results of experiments described here suggest that there may, nevertheless, be incomplete metabolic union between the two generations.
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References
Bell, P. R., Proc. Roy. Soc., B, 153, 421 (1960).
Jayasekera, R. D. E., and Bell, P. R., Planta, 54, 1 (1959).
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BELL, P. Failure of Nucleotides to diffuse freely into the Embryo of Pteridium aquilinum . Nature 191, 91–92 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/191091a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/191091a0
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