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Very Short Answer Questions · Q2

Q.How many haploid cells are present in a mature embryo sac?

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✓ Free question

Of the mature embryo sac's seven cells (eight nuclei), six are haploid, the egg cell, two synergids, and three antipodals, while only the fused secondary nucleus is diploid.

A mature angiosperm embryo sac is described as seven-celled and eight-nucleated. At the micropylar end sit the egg cell and two synergids (all haploid); at the chalazal end sit three antipodal cells (also all haploid), six haploid cells in total. The eighth nucleus arises when the two haploid polar nuclei, migrating in from each pole, fuse together within the large central cell to form the diploid secondary (definitive) nucleus, just before fertilization. So the embryo sac contains 6 haploid cells and 1 diploid central cell (carrying the fused secondary nucleus).

This is a typical Maharashtra HSC Biology question; the underlying idea appears word-for-word in NCERT Class 12 Biology, so CBSE students can use the same reasoning.

✓Final answer

6 haploid cells

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