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    • Figure 1. 

      Female germline development in Arabidopsis thaliana. The developmental process of female gametophyte can be divided into two steps, including megasporogenesis and megagametogenesis, in Arabidopsis. Megasporogenesis starts from a subepidermal cell at the top of the ovule primordium and the differentiates into MMC. After one meiosis, the cell formed four haploid megaspores. Among them, the three megaspores near the micropyle end degenerated rapidly, and only the one remaining megaspore survives, which is then named as the functional megaspore (FM). Functional megaspores undergo mitosis to form syncytia and then undergo cellularization to form a mature female gametophyte with multicellular structure.

    • Figure 2. 

      General mechanisms and key pathways involved in MMC specification. (a) The major signaling pathways of MMC specification in the upper epidermal nucellus. (b) The major signaling pathways of MMC specification in the MMC. (c) The major signaling pathways of MMC specification in the companion cells. (d) The major signaling pathways of MMC specification in the chalaza. (e) The key pathways of ubiquitously expressed genes involved in MMC specification.