The process whose specific outcome is the progression of the embryo sac over time, from its formation as the megaspore to the mature structure. The process begins when three of the four haploid megaspores disintegrate, and the fourth undergoes mitosis giving rise to a binucleate syncytial embryo sac. The two haploid nuclei migrate to the opposite poles of the embryo sac and then undergo two rounds of mitosis generating four haploid nuclei at each pole. One nucleus from each set of four migrates to the center of the cell. Cellularization occurs, resulting in an eight-nucleate seven-celled structure. This structure contains two synergid cells and an egg cell at the micropylar end, and three antipodal cells at the other end. A binucleate endosperm mother cell is formed at the center.

A small, dense body one or more of which are present in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells. It is rich in RNA and protein, is not bounded by a limiting membrane, and is not seen during mitosis. Its prime function is the transcription of the nucleolar DNA into 45S ribosomal-precursor RNA, the processing of this RNA into 5.8S, 18S, and 28S components of ribosomal RNA, and the association of these components with 5S RNA and proteins synthesized outside the nucleolus. This association results in the formation of ribonucleoprotein precursors; these pass into the cytoplasm and mature into the 40S and 60S subunits of the ribosome.