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Fusigenic agents |
| Spontaneous fusion of protoplasts may occur, or they may be induced to fuse by fusigenic agents. |
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| During enzymatic digestion of the cell wall cells may fuse together through their adjoining plasmodesmata. Dissolution of the wall allows the plasmodesmatal strands interconnecting the cells to enlarge; the cytoplasm and organelles from two or more cells then flow together. These fusions are always intraspecific but rarely fuse due to the negative surface charges of the protoplasts. Although the fusigenic agent lowers the surface charge, which permits the protoplast membranes to come into proximity, the adhesion of the protoplasts is insufficient to bring about fusion without molecular alterations in the bilayer structure of the plasma membranes |
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Fusigenic agents:
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