Nuclear Fusion and Non-Fusion in Theobroma cacao L.

The mechanism of pollen incompatibility in Theobroma cacao L.

“…The hypothesis put forward by Bennett and Cope (1959), in explanation of non-fusion of nuclei, has the merit of accounting for the not infrequent dissociation of polar nuclei in embryo-sacs which have received incompatible male gametes. When fusion takes place between polar nuclei and a male gamete compatible with them, the male nucleus invariably makes contact with the paired polar nuclei at some point on their interface; the three nuclei come, in fact, to lie in mutual contact, the male nucleus then insinuating itself between the polar nuclei, assuming a more and more fusiform shape as it penetrates.…”