Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Botany A minute opening in the ovule of a seed plant through which the pollen tube usually enters.
- noun Zoology A pore in the membrane covering the ovum of some animals through which a spermatozoon can enter.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In zoology: In certain sporozoans, a minute opening in the oöcyst through which the microgamete enters to fertilize the macrogamete.
- noun In botany, the orifice or canal in the coats of the ovule leading to the apex of the nucleus, through which the pollen-tube penetrates.
- noun In zoology: The scar or hilum of an ovum at the point of its attachment to the ovary
- noun Any opening in the coverings of an ovum through which spermatozoa may gain access to the interior, or a cluster of minute pores on the surface of an egg through which fertilization is effected. On the eggs of lepidopterous insects these pores often form a rosette at one end.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun An opening in the membranes surrounding the ovum, by which nutrition is assisted and the entrance of the spermatozoa permitted.
- noun An opening in the outer coat of a seed, through which the fecundating pollen enters the ovule.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun botany In seed-bearing plants, a small
opening in theinteguments of theovule through whichsperm are able to access theovum .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun minute opening in the wall of an ovule through which the pollen tube enters
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word micropyle.
Examples
-
This opening is called the "micropyle," and allows the pollen tube to enter.
Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses Douglas Houghton Campbell
-
* (* Little as a name may actually affect the facts, we ought certainly to confine the name "micropyle" to canals of the egg-membrane, which serve for the entrance of the semen.
Facts and Arguments for Darwin Fritz Muller 1859
-
The receptive part of the gymnosperm ovule is called the micropyle.
Pollination Wikipedia 2009
-
For small quantities of seed, cut through the seedcoat opposite the micropyle, or pointed-end of the seed, taking care not to damage the seed embryo.
Chapter 8 1996
-
The seed should be sown 1-2 cm deep with the micropyle pointing downwards; the emerging root is not strongly geotropic and may come up out of the soil if the seed is planted upside down.
Chapter 8 1996
-
For small quantities of seed, cut through the seedcoat opposite the micropyle, or pointed-end of the seed, taking care not to damage the seed embryo.
Chapter 10 1996
-
To avoid damaging the seed embryo, cut or scrape the seedcoat opposite the micropyle.
Chapter 4 1996
-
The seed should be sown 1-2 cm deep with the micropyle pointing downwards; the emerging root is not strongly geotropic and may come up out of the soil if the seed is planted upside down.
Chapter 7 1990
-
For small quantities of seed, cut through the seedcoat opposite the micropyle, or pointed-end of the seed, taking care not to damage the seed embryo.
Chapter 5 1990
-
Then when it lies on the stigma it develops a long tube, which passes down the style and through the micropyle of the ovule to the germinal vesicles, one of which is fertilized by what is probably an osmotic transference of nuclear matter.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 Various
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.