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Endosperm
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{{Short description|Tissue inside seeds that is starchy in cereals and liquid in coconuts}} [[File:Wheat seed.jpg|200px|thumb|Wheat seed]] The '''endosperm''' is a tissue produced inside the [[seed]]s of most of the [[flowering plant]]s following [[double fertilization]]. It is [[triploid]] (meaning three chromosome sets per nucleus) in most species,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Stewart-Cox JA, Britton NF, Mogie M | title = Endosperm triploidy has a selective advantage during ongoing parental conflict by imprinting | journal = Proceedings. Biological Sciences | volume = 271 | issue = 1549 | pages = 1737β43 | date = August 2004 | pmid = 15306295 | pmc = 1691787 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2004.2783 }}</ref> which may be [[auxin]]-driven.<ref name="Friedman-2009">{{cite journal | last=Friedman | first=W. E. | title=Auxin at the Evo-Devo Intersection | journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] | publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] | volume=324 | issue=5935 | date=2009-06-25 | issn=0036-8075 | doi=10.1126/science.1176526 | pages=1652β1653 | s2cid=206521265 | pmid=19556491| bibcode=2009Sci...324.1652F }}</ref> It surrounds the [[Embryo#Plant embryos|embryo]] and provides nutrition in the form of [[starch]], though it can also contain [[Vegetable oil|oil]]s and [[protein]]. This can make endosperm a source of nutrition in animal diet. For example, [[wheat]] endosperm is ground into flour for [[bread]] (the rest of the grain is included as well in [[whole wheat flour]]), while [[barley]] endosperm is the main source of sugars for [[beer]] production. Other examples of endosperm that forms the bulk of the edible portion are [[coconut]] "meat" and coconut "water",<ref>{{cite web | title = Edible Palm Fruits | url = http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph10.htm | work = Wayne's Word: An Online Textbook of Natural History | access-date = 14 July 2010 | archive-date = 2 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170902214354/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph10.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> and [[Maize|corn]]. Some plants, such as certain [[orchid]]s, lack endosperm in their [[seed]]s. Ancestral flowering plants have seeds with small embryos and abundant endosperm. In some modern flowering plants the embryo occupies most of the seed and the endosperm is non-developed or consumed before the seed matures.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seedbiology.de/dormancy.asp#evolution |title=The Seed Biology Place - Seed Dormancy |publisher=Seedbiology.de |access-date=2014-02-05}}</ref><ref name=Friedman1998>{{citation | last = Friedman | first = William E. | name-list-style = vanc | year = 1998 | title = The evolution of double fertilization and endosperm: an "historical" perspective | journal = Sexual Plant Reproduction | volume = 11 | page = 6 | doi = 10.1007/s004970050114| s2cid = 19785565 }}</ref> In other flowering plant taxa, the [[Poaceae]] for example, the endosperm is greatly developed.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=The Development of Endosperm in Grasses |journal=Plant Physiology|date=2009 |doi=10.1104/pp.108.129437 |last1=Sabelli |first1=Paolo A. |last2=Larkins |first2=Brian A. |volume=149 |issue=1 |pages=14β26 |pmid=19126691 |pmc=2613697 }}</ref>
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