Question

The embryo sac in most angiosperms is made up of

• A. 8 cells
• B. 7 cells and 8 nuclei
• C. many cells
• D. 7 cells and 7 nuclei

Answer 1

The correct option is B

7 cells and 8 nuclei

The embryo sac in most angiosperms is made up of 7 cells and 8 nuclei. The female sex organs in a flower is the pistil or the carpel. Pistil consists of an ovary enclosing one to many ovules. Within ovules are present highly reduced female gametophytes termed embryosacs. The embryo-sac formation is preceded by meiosis. Hence, each of the cells of an embryo-sac is haploid. Each embryo-sac has a three-celled egg apparatus – one egg cell and two synergids, three antipodal cells and a central cell having two polar nuclei. The polar nuclei eventually fuse to produce a diploid secondary nucleus.