synergid

[ si-nur-jid, sin-er- ]

noun

, Botany.

1. one of two small cells that lie inside the embryo sac of a flowering plant and nourish the ovum.

synergid

/ sĭ-nûr′jĭd,sĭn′ər- /

1. One of two small, short-lived nuclei lying near the egg in the mature embryo sac of a flowering plant. The synergids are part of the egg apparatus and are thought to help the pollen nucleus reach the egg cell for fertilization.
2. See more at egg apparatus

Other Words From

• syn·ergid·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of synergid¹

First recorded in 1875–80; from Greek synerg(ós) “working together” + -id ²( def ); synergism ( def )

More About Synergid

What does synergid mean?

A synergid is a small cell within the embryo sac of a plant. A plant will have two synergids to help the pollen of another plant reach the ovum (egg) of the synergids’ plant. 

Almost all flowering plants reproduce through the fertilization of ovums. After pollen makes its way into a plant’s ovum, sperm cells are released into the embryo sac. One of the two synergids will accept a sperm cell, guiding it to its neighboring egg cell, fertilizing the cell that will become the embryo. After this fertilization, both synergids begin to degenerate so that they don’t attract sperm cells from other pollen.

Example: We learned about synergids and the reproductive process of some plants in botany today.

Where does synergid come from?

The first records of the term synergid come from around the 1870s. It combines the Greek synergós, meaning “working together,” and the suffix -id, which is used to denote a single member of a category in a taxonomy, especially in zoology.

Botanist Eduard Strasburger first discovered the function and nature of synergids in the 1870s. Strasburger likely chose the term because the plant creates synergids through cell division solely to assist the egg cells. Effectively the synergids and the egg cells work together in plant reproduction.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to synergid?

• synergidal (adjective)

What are some words that share a root or word element with synergid? 

• synergy
• synergism
• synergistic

What are some words that often get used in discussing synergid?

• botany
• cell
• egg
• embryo
• nourish
• reproduction

How is synergid used in real life?

Synergid is almost always used in a scientific or botanical context to refer to the specialized cells that help with plant reproduction.

CS-10-1 – Synergid Cell Calcium Ion Oscillations Refine Our Understanding of Pollen Tube Reception as a Critical Block to Interspecific Hybridization #plantbio20

— Ravi Palanivelu (@rpalaniveluaz) July 28, 2020

Saw a truck that says Synergistiks which reminded me of synergid cells in plants… 🙆🌱

— Allee O (@itsalleeo) April 16, 2014

Johnson (Brown) with beautiful research on molecules mediating pollen-synergid fusion during fertilization #plantbiology15

— Leonie Moyle (@SpeciationLab) July 29, 2015

Try using synergid!

True or False?

Once one of a plant’s synergids fertilizes an ovum, it attracts more pollen.