(Alternate spelling: fertilisation).
1. Creation by the union of sperm or pollen with an animal or plant or egg cell; SYN. fertilisation, fecundation, impregnation.
2. Making fertile as by applying fertilizer or manure; SYN. fecundation, dressing.
In sexual reproduction, the union of two gametes (sex cells, often called egg and sperm) to produce a zygote, which combines the genetic material contributed by each parent. In self-fertilization the male and female gametes come from the same plant; in cross-fertilization they come from different plants. Self-fertilization rarely occurs in animals; usually even hermaphrodite animals cross-fertilize each other.
In terrestrial insects, mammals, reptiles, and birds, fertilization occurs within the female's body. In humans it usually takes place in the Fallopian tube. In the majority of fishes and amphibians, and most aquatic invertebrates, fertilization occurs externally, when both sexes release their gametes into the water. In most fungi, gametes are not released, but the hyphae of the two parents grow toward each other and fuse to achieve fertilization. In higher plants, pollination precedes fertilization. + prikaži više

ETYM Cf. French imprégnation, Late Lat. impraegnatio.
1. The act of impregnating or the state of being impregnated; fecundation.
2. The fusion of a female germ cell (ovum) with a male germ cell (in animals, a spermatozoon) to form a single new cell endowed with the ability to develope into a new individual.

The process by which pollen is transferred from one plant to another. The male gametes are contained in pollen grains, which must be transferred from the anther to the stigma in angiosperms (flowering plants), and from the male cone to the female cone in gymnosperms (cone-bearing plants). Fertilization (not the same as pollination) occurs after the growth of the pollen tube to the ovary. Self-pollination occurs when pollen is transferred to a stigma of the same flower, or to another flower on the same plant; cross-pollination occurs when pollen is transferred to another plant. This involves external pollen-carrying agents, such as wind (see anemophily), water (see hydrophily), insects, birds (see ornithophily), bats, and other small mammals.
Animal pollinators carry the pollen on their bodies and are attracted to the flower by scent, or by the sight of the petals. Most flowers are adapted for pollination by one particular agent only. Those that rely on animals generally produce nectar, a sugary liquid, or surplus pollen, or both, on which the pollinator feeds. Thus the relationship between pollinator and plant is an example of mutualism, in which both benefit. However, in some plants the pollinator receives no benefit (as in pseudocopulation), while in others, nectar may be removed by animals that do not effect pollination.
Transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigma of a plant; SYN. pollenation. + prikaži više