Ramesh is a farmer who has a vineyard and cultivates grapes. To improve the shape of the grapes and make them elongated he sprays a particular phytohormone at the time of fruiting.
These grapes are said to be seedless. What is the technical term for the formation of such fruits?
Topic: Parthenocarpy
Answer
PARTHENOCARPY.
Parthenocarpy is the development of a fruit WITHOUT FERTILISATION, so no seeds are formed. Spraying auxins or gibberellins makes the ovary develop into a fruit even though no ovule has been fertilised.
Break the word apart: PARTHENO- means virgin (without fertilisation) and -CARPY refers to fruit.
Commercial examples: seedless grapes, bananas and some varieties of orange and watermelon.
Do not confuse it with PARTHENOGENESIS, which is development of an unfertilised EGG into a new individual in animals — same prefix, different process.