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At a minimum, two of these cells are egg cells and the rest are haploid somatic cells, but more egg cells may be present and their ploidy, though typically haploid, may vary. [14] [17] In select Gnetophyta, the female gametophyte stays singled celled. Mitosis does occur, but no cell divisions are ever made. [13]
It is the biological process of gametogenesis during which cells that are haploid or diploid divide to create other cells. It can take place either through mitotic or meiotic division of diploid gametocytes into different cells depending on an organism's biological life cycle. For instance, gametophytes in plants undergo mitosis to produce gametes.
Within each ovule, a megaspore develops by mitosis into a megagametophyte. An archegonium develops within the megagametophyte and produces an egg. The whole of the gametophytic generation remains within the protection of the sporophyte except for pollen grains (which have been reduced to just three cells contained within the microspore wall).
Sperm cells are derived by mitosis of the generative cell during pollen tube elongation. The vegetative cell is responsible for pollen tube development. Double-strand breaks in DNA that arise appear to be efficiently repaired in the generative cell, but not in the vegetative cell, during the transport process to the female gametophyte. [32]
These microspore mother cells, also called microsporocytes, then undergo meiosis and become four microspore haploid cells. These new microspore cells then undergo mitosis and form a tube cell and a generative cell. The generative cell then undergoes mitosis one more time to form two male gametes, also called sperm.
Four chambers (pollen sacs) lined with nutritive tapetal cells are visible by the time the microspores are produced. After meiosis, the haploid microspores undergo several changes: The microspore divides by mitosis producing two cells. The first of the cells (the generative cell) is small and is formed inside the second larger cell (the tube cell).
The three cells left at the end of the cell near the micropylar become the egg apparatus with an egg cell in the center and two synergids. A cell wall forms around the other set of nuclei and forms the antipodals. The cells in the center develop into the central cell. This entire structure with its eight nuclei is called the embryonic sac.
These two cells in addition to the spore wall make up an immature pollen grain. As the male gametophyte matures, the generative cell passes into the tube cell, and the generative cell undergoes mitosis, producing two sperm cells. Once the pollen grain has matured, the anthers break open, releasing the pollen.