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The zygote contains the combined genetic material carried by both the male and female gametes which consists of the 23 chromosomes from the nucleus of the ovum and the 23 chromosomes from the nucleus of the sperm. The 46 chromosomes undergo changes prior to the mitotic division which leads to the formation of the embryo having two cells.
During this migration the zygote undergoes a number of cell divisions that creates a ball of 16 compacted blastomeres called a morula. [14] The morula enters the uterus after three or four days, and as it does a cavity called the blastocoel is formed in the morula to produce the blastocyst.
Fertilization was not understood in antiquity. Hippocrates believed that the embryo was the product of male semen and a female factor. But Aristotle held that only male semen gave rise to an embryo, while the female only provided a place for the embryo to develop, [5] a concept he acquired from the preformationist Pythagoras.
During this stage, the zygote begins to divide, in a process called cleavage. A blastocyst is then formed and implanted in the uterus. Embryonic development continues with the next stage of gastrulation, when the three germ layers of the embryo form in a process called histogenesis, and the processes of neurulation and organogenesis follow.
Successful reproduction typically involves sexual intercourse between a healthy, sexually mature and fertile male and female. [1] Because of ejaculation during intercourse, the male reproductive system deposits semen containing sperm into the female reproductive system, which can result in the fertilization of an ovum, to form a zygote. [1]
Fertilization of the ovum to form a new human organism, the human zygote. (day 1 of fertilization [1]) The zygote undergoes mitotic cellular divisions, but does not increase in size. This mitosis is also known as cleavage. A hollow cavity forms marking the blastocyst stage. (day 1.5–3 of fertilization. [1])
The resulting zygote develops into an embryo, while the triploid endosperm (one sperm cell plus two female cells) and female tissues of the ovule give rise to the surrounding tissues in the developing seed. The ovary, which produced the female gametophyte(s), then grows into a fruit, which surrounds the seed(s).
The zygote is the earliest developmental stage. In humans and most other anisogamous organisms, a zygote is formed when an egg cell and sperm cell come together to create a new unique organism. The formation of a totipotent zygote with the potential to produce a whole organism depends on epigenetic reprogramming.