befruktbara

Befruktbara is a Swedish adjective used in biology to describe cells or gametes that are capable of being fertilized. The term is most commonly applied to eggs (oocytes) in animals and to pollen grains and ovules in plants, but can be used more broadly for any gamete at a fertilization-competent stage.

In animals, fertilization competence refers to an oocyte's ability to undergo successful fertilization. Oocytes mature within the ovaries and typically reach a stage where fertilization is possible around ovulation, often after completing meiosis I and arresting at metaphase II. When a sperm penetrates the zona pellucida and fuses with the oocyte membrane, fertilization proceeds and embryogenesis begins. The concept of bef ruktbara emphasizes the time window during which the oocyte remains fertilizable, rather than the eventual outcome of fertilization. (Note: the standard Swedish spelling is bef ruktbara as one word: bef ruktbara.)

In plants, fertilizable stages include mature pollen grains capable of germinating on a stigma and delivering sperm to an ovule, as well as receptive ovules. After pollination, pollen tube growth enables fertilization, and in flowering plants this often involves double fertilization to form the embryo and endosperm. The label bef ruktbara is used to describe pollen or ovules at the point when fertilization can occur.

Etymology and usage: bef ruktbara derives from be- (to) and fruktbar (fertile). In Swedish biology texts, it describes gametes at a fertilization-competent stage, analogous to the English term fertilizable. See also Fertilization, Oocyte, Pollen, Gamete.