Biology / Unit 11 Bio 2603 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Female Gametophyte Development: Megasporogenesis and the Embryo Sac
Captions available
The idea
Inside an ovule's megasporangium, one megaspore undergoes mitosis, forming an eight-nucleate embryo sac: egg cell, two synergids, three antipodal cells, and a central cell with two polar nuclei.
In practice
Synergid cells secrete chemical signals guiding an arriving pollen tube through the micropyle toward the egg cell.
Where people slip
Of the four megaspores meiosis produces, only one survives to form the embryo sac; the rest degenerate.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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