The morphological and ultrastructural changes occurring over time during primary and secondary cocoa somatic embryogenesis were studied by Dr. Siela Maximova of Penn State in collaboration with Dr. Laurence Alemanno of CIRAD, using a combination of electron and light microscopy for the genotype Scavina 6. This analysis showed that primary embryos arise predominantly from clusters of cells, which co-operatively form embryonic nodules perhaps as a result, from complex interactions of hundreds or thousands of cells. Interestingly, secondary embryos usually arise from the division of single epidermal cells, in a pathway reminiscent of zygotic embryogenesis. Thus, the two types of embryos originate through pathways that differ in the number and location of the cells contributing to embryo formation.