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Egg Cell

The large, non-motile female gamete with energy stores and a jelly coat, whose nucleus fuses with a sperm nucleus at fertilisation.

#egg-cell#gamete#specialised-cell#fertilisation#reproduction#igcse-biology

Egg Cell

An egg cell is the female gamete: a large, non-motile specialised cell containing a haploid nucleus that fuses with the nucleus of a sperm cell at fertilisation 1.

Adaptive Features

FeatureAdvantage
Energy stores in the cytoplasmNourish the cell and the early embryo before it implants
Jelly coat that changes at fertilisationOnce one sperm nucleus has entered, the coat alters so that no further sperm enter
Large size, non-motileContains the stores needed after fertilisation; the sperm provides the movement
Produced in comparatively small numbersEach cell is costly to build and is released rarely

Fertilisation and Early Development

Fertilisation is the fusion of the nuclei of the sperm and egg cells, producing a diploid zygote from two haploid gametes 1. The zygote then divides by mitosis to form an embryo — a ball of cells that implants into the lining of the uterus, where it develops protected and supplied with nutrients from the mother.

  • Cell - Specialised cells have specific functions.
  • Sperm Cell - The male gamete whose nucleus fuses with this one.
  • Nucleus - Site of the haploid nucleus and its fusion.
  • Reproduction - Sexual reproduction and fertilisation.
  • Growth - The zygote divides to build the embryo.
  • Biology - Cambridge IGCSE life-science area.

Footnotes

  1. Cambridge IGCSE Biology 0610 syllabus for examination in 2026, 2027 and 2028 - Gametes as specialised cells (2.1.6f), fertilisation, gamete comparison and early development (16.4.3-16.4.7). ↩ ↩2