merogonyn.
/mᵻˈrɒɡəni/, U.S. /məˈrɑɡəni/ Biology.
1. Embryonic development occurring in a fragment of an ovum (originally spec. in an enucleated ovum containing a male pronucleus).
ΚΠ
1899 Nature 2 Nov. 24/1 Since it [sc. the fertilization of non-nucleated ovular cytoplasm]..is a process which may be generalised, the author proposes to give it the name of merogony.
1902 Science 19 Dec. 992/2 The facts of parthenogenesis and merogony prove that either the paternal or the maternal group alone may suffice for complete development.
1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. (rev. ed.) VIII. 243/2 The primary importance of merogony lies in the detection of often invisible, regional differences in the cytoplasm of an egg.
1986 Q. Rev. Biol. 61 236/1 [In] implantation and merogony studies..it had been shown that a great many characters are affected by the make-up of the surrounding tissues or of the cytoplasm.
2. Asexual reproduction of protists by multiple fission (schizogony), spec. that resulting in the production of merozoites; an instance of this.
ΚΠ
1940 T. J. Parker & W. A. Haswell Text-bk. Zool. (ed. 6) I. ii. 56 The reproduction of Foraminifera is mainly by multiple fission (merogony), with or without copulation.
1987 J. P. Kreier & J. R. Baker Parasitic Protozoa vi. 126 Generally speaking, the gregarines which do not undergo merogony are harmless to their hosts, while the others, since they increase greatly in number by repeated merogonies within the host, are usually pathogenic.
1989 Encycl. Brit. V. 475/3 In the order Schizogregarinida..a form of asexual reproduction called merogony (nuclear division followed by cytoplasmic division) precedes sexual union and spore formation.
2000 Parasite 7 123 Stages of merogony and gametogony [of Eimeria bragancaensis] are described.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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