A type 316 austenitic stainless steel sheet with various texture components along its thickness was slightly cold-rolled and then sequentially annealed at 1000 degrees C for 80 and 150 min. The evolution of texture and the development of grain clusters in which the grains are interfaced by Sigma 3(n) (n = 0, 1, 2, 3.) boundaries (Sigma 3(n) GC) were studied by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). The results show that the texture difference along the thickness was minimized, and large (greater than 400 mu) Sigma 3(n) GCs developed after cold rolling and annealing. In situ EBSD examination revealed that each Sigma 3(n) GC was developed by the oriented-growth (OG) of brass ({110}< 112 >), copper ({112}< 111 >) and C1 ({114}< 041 >) orientations (including their geometric variants). These orientations are intrinsically related to Sigma 3(n) misorientations. The abutting Sigma 3(n) GCs with grains of nearly the same or Sigma 3(n)-related orientations usually merged into a larger Sigma 3(n) GC or resulted in an effective disruption of the connectivity of the random high angle grain boundary network.