In flowering plants, how many megaspores are typically functional in the formation of the female gametophyte?

One

The answer is d) One.

In flowering plants, the megaspore mother cell undergoes meiosis and forms four megaspores. However, only one of these megaspores is functional and develops into the female gametophyte. The other three megaspores degenerate.

The functional megaspore is typically the chalazal megaspore, which is the megaspore that is closest to the chalaza of the ovule. However, in some species, the functional megaspore can be the micropylar megaspore, which is the megaspore that is closest to the micropyle of the ovule.

The female gametophyte is a haploid structure that contains seven cells and eight nuclei. The female gametophyte develops from the functional megaspore and contains the egg cell, which is fertilized by a sperm cell to produce a zygote. The zygote develops into a new plant.