Polar body

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Polar body

Polar body (pronunciation: /ˈpoʊlər ˈbɒdi/) is a small haploid cell that is formed concomitantly as an egg cell during oogenesis, but generally does not have the ability to be fertilized.

Etymology

The term "polar body" was first used in the late 19th century. The term "polar" refers to the position of these bodies at the poles of the egg cell during meiosis, and "body" refers to their cellular structure.

Definition

A polar body is a small cell that is produced and eventually discarded during the development of an oocyte into an ovum. This process is part of oogenesis. The polar bodies are produced in two rounds of division, known as meiosis I and meiosis II. The primary function of these polar bodies is to ensure that the egg cell, or ovum, receives the majority of the cytoplasm and organelles necessary for cell growth and development after fertilization.

Related Terms

  • Oogenesis: The process of female gamete, or egg, production which includes the formation of polar bodies.
  • Meiosis: A type of cell division that results in four daughter cells each with half the number of chromosomes of the parent cell, as in the production of gametes and plant spores.
  • Haploid: A cell that contains a single set of chromosomes. The polar bodies are haploid.
  • Oocyte: A cell in an ovary which may undergo meiotic division to form an ovum.
  • Ovum: A mature female reproductive cell, which can divide to give rise to an embryo usually only after fertilization by a male cell.

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