Polyspermy produces tri-parental seeds in maize Ueli Grossniklaus  Current Biology  Volume 27, Issue 24, Pages R1300-R1302 (December 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.059 Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions

Figure 1 Polyspermy events in the endosperm can be detected in interploidy crosses. (A) Test-cross of an approximately 1:1 pollen mixture of R-st and R-nj pollen to a 2n W23 female (see also Figure S1). (B) Crosses of a similar pollen mixture with a 4n W23 female result mostly in aborted seeds with unbalanced (4m:1p) endosperm and rarely in normal, plump kernels (arrow) with balanced (4m:2p) endosperm. (C–E) Plump kernels derived from crosses between 4n W23 females and mixtures of pollen from 2n R-st and R-nj males, carrying two paternal copies of R-nj (endosperm genotype r/r/r/r/R-nj/R-nj) pigmenting the crown (C), two paternal copies of R-st (endosperm genotype r/r/r/r/R-st/R-st) resulting in a spotted pattern (D), or tri-parental endosperm carrying both R-nj and R-st (endosperm genotype r/r/r/r/R-nj/R-st) originating from two different male parents (E). Current Biology 2017 27, R1300-R1302DOI: (10.1016/j.cub.2017.10.059) Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd Terms and Conditions