Androgenesis

Androgenesis is the mode of reproduction of eukaryotes where both sets of chromosomes of the offspring are of paternal origin. In higher plants, androgenesis can be obtained either in vitro with anther cultures or with isolated pollen grains. In animals, androgenesis can be obtained only experimentally. A technique similar to that described in the entry Digynism can be used, that of pronuclear transplantation: the male pronucleus is removed from a fertilized egg and injected into another egg, from which the female pronucleus is then removed, so that now the zygote contains two paternally derived sets of chromosomes.

Rarely, diandric embryos arise spontaneously when a fertilized egg loses its female pronucleus. These embryos are not viable. In humans, their implantation results in a uterine tumor called a hydatiform mole. In spontaneous abortions, diandric embryos are a minority among triploid conceptuses (1).

Diandric embryos are useful for studies of genetic imprinting.

References

1. D. E. McFadden and J. T. Pantzar (1996) Hum. Pathol. 27, 1018–1020.