A strawberry egg cell contains 28 chromosomes.
Here's why:
The common garden strawberry ( Fragaria × ananassa) is octoploid, meaning it has eight sets of chromosomes. Each set contains seven chromosomes. Therefore, a strawberry has a total of 56 chromosomes in its somatic (non-sex) cells.
Egg cells, also known as gametes, are formed through a process called meiosis, which halves the number of chromosomes. Therefore, an egg cell of an octoploid strawberry will have half the number of chromosomes as a somatic cell.
56 chromosomes (in a somatic cell) / 2 = 28 chromosomes (in an egg cell).
Therefore, a strawberry egg cell will have 28 chromosomes.
