polyembryony

[ pol-ee-em-bree-uh-nee, -oh-nee, -em-brahy-uh-nee ]

noun

, Embryology.

1. the production of more than one embryo from one egg.

polyembryony

/ ˌpɒlɪˌɛmbrɪˈɒnɪk; ˌpɒlɪˈɛmbrɪənɪ /

noun

1. the production of more than one embryo from a single fertilized egg cell: occurs in certain plants and parasitic hymenopterous insects

polyembryony

/ pŏl′ē-ĕm′brē-ə-nē,-ĕm-brī′- /

1. Development from a single fertilized egg cell or, in plants, from a single ovule. In human beings, identical twins are the result of polyembryony. In gymnosperm plants, polyembryony involves the fertilization of more than one egg, though usually only one embryo survives in the ovule.

Derived Forms

• polyembryonic, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of polyembryony¹

1840–50; poly- + Greek émbryon embryo + -y ³

Example Sentences

Polyembryony.—Occasionally the power of reproduction is thrown still farther back in the life-history, and it is found that from a single egg a large number of embryos may be formed.

From Project Gutenberg

Marchal points out the analogy of this phenomenon to the artificial polyembryony that has been induced in Echinoderm and other eggs by separating the blastomeres, and suggests that the abundant food-supply afforded by the host-larva is favourable for this multiplication of embryos, which may be, in the first instance, incited by the abnormal osmotic pressure on the egg.

From Project Gutenberg

Polyembryony: the production of several embryos from a single egg, as in some Chalcids.

From Project Gutenberg

Polyembryony is generally associated with the development of cells other than the egg-cell.

From Project Gutenberg