Question

What is the first polar body?

Answer 1

Hint: Polar bodies are egg cells that are non-functional. After meiosis-I, the primary oocyte does not divide equally. The cell with less amount of cytoplasm is known as the first polar body. Gametes are diploid in nature, after fertilization, the resulting zygote should be diploid. Therefore, one haploid cell dissolves as a polar body after each meiosis stage.

Complete answer:
Reproduction is an important aspect in living things. It is a process by which genetically similar offspring are produced by parents. Reproduction can be of sexual or asexual means. Sexual reproduction involves the presence of both male and female gametes. Fertilization is a process in which the male and female gametes fuse to form zygote. The female gamete is known as an ovum. The development and growth of the female gamete is known as oogenesis. It is the process in which the primary ovum develops into a mature ovum.
The type of cell division that takes place in gametes is meiosis. In females, before birth, oogonium develops into the primary oocytes by mitotic cell division. All the primary oocytes are present in a female even before birth. After attaining puberty, each month one primary oocyte gets developed into a large secondary oocyte and a small polar body. After a while, the polar body usually degrades.

Note:
Polar bodies help in decreasing a haploid set of chromosomes by meiosis in the reproduction process. Thus, maintaining a diploid nature even after fertilization. It also helps in conserving the amount of cytoplasm, providing a large amount to the secondary oocyte.