Video Transcript
A flower is pollinated but not
fertilized. Which of the following is most
likely to happen? (A) Seeded fruits will develop. (B) The plant’s reproductive organs
will die. (C) Fruit will develop, but it will
not have seeds. Or (D) gametes will not be
produced.
Flowering plants, which are
scientifically called angiosperms, reproduce by sexual reproduction. This requires pollination of the
female organs in a flower by a male pollen grain. The pollen can then travel through
the female reproductive parts of the flower to fertilize an egg cell within an
ovule. After fertilization, the fertilized
ovule will develop into a seed, which contains the developing plant embryo.
During this time, the flower’s
petals and sepals usually begin to wilt, and sometimes the male reproductive organs
are also shed from the flower. In the maturation process, the
remaining female organs of the flower become a fruit surrounding the seed. The ovary wall swells and ripens,
forming the wall of the fruit, called the pericarp.
Now that we have discussed the
processes of seed formation and maturation in angiosperms, let’s narrow down our
answer choices to select the best answer. Answer choice (B) states that the
plant’s reproductive organs will die if the flower is pollinated but not
fertilized. However, a flower’s reproductive
organs continue their maturation process after pollination has occurred, regardless
of whether or not they are fertilized. So option (B) is incorrect.
The difference between a flower
that has been pollinated and fertilized and a flower that has been pollinated and
not fertilized is that if the flower is not fertilized, the seed will not form. This means that option (A), stating
that seeded fruits will develop if a flower is pollinated but not fertilized, must
also be incorrect, as seeds cannot form without fertilization.
Option (D) states that gametes will
not be produced if a flower is pollinated but not fertilized. This is not necessarily true, as
gametes are required for fertilization but are not produced as a result of
fertilization. So whether or not a flower is
fertilized will have no effect on gamete production.
The pollination of a flower
triggers the female reproductive organs to mature into fruit. However, without fertilization, as
we know, there will be no seed development. Therefore, the most likely thing to
happen if a flower is pollinated but not fertilized is (C). Fruit will develop, but it will not
have seeds.
