Chapter 29: Plant Diversity I Flashcards
(32 cards)
What did land plants evolve from
Green algae (charophytes)
Morphological/molecular evidence of evolution
- Rings of cellulose-synthesizing proteins
- Structure of flagellated sperm
- Formation of phragmoplast
Sporopollenin
- Layer of durable polymer that prevents exposed zygotes from drying out; probably enabled plants to live on land
Derived Traits of Land Plants
- Alternation of generations
- Multicellular, dependent embryos
- Walled spores in sporangia
- Multicellular gametangia (female are archegonia, male are antheridia)
- Apical meristems (localize regions of cell division at tips of roots/shoots)
Alternation of Generations in Plants–Gametophyte
- Multicellular haploid gametophyte produces haploid gametes that fuse during fertilization
Alternation of Generations in Plants–Sporophyte
- Mitotic division of zygote produces multicellular diploid sporophyte
- Meiosis in mature sporophyte produces haploid spores, reproductive cells that can develop into new haploid organism without fusing with another cell
- Cycle begins again
Stomata
- Specialized pores that support photosynthesis by allowing exchange of CO2 and O2 between outside air and plant; main avenues for evaporation
Vascular tissue
- Cells joined into tubes that transport water and nutrients throughout the plant body; most plants have complex vascular tissue system (vascular plants)
Bryophytes
- Nonvascular plants; do not form monophyletic group
- Liverworts, mosses, hornworts
Lycophytes
- Type of vascular plant
- Club mosses and their relatives
Monilophytes
- Type of vascular plant
- Ferns and their relatives
Seedless Vascular Plants
- Include lycophytes and monilophytes
Seed
Embryo packaged with supply of nutrients inside a protective coat
Seed Plant Groups
- Gymnosperms: Naked seed plants
- Angiosperms: (90%) Huge clade of flowering plants; seeds develop inside chambers
Mosses + Nonvascular plant life cycles dominated by?
Gametophytes
Bryophyte Gametophytes
- Spores develop into protonemata
- Haploid protonemata produce “buds” that divide by mitosis and grow into gametophores
- Sperm swims through film of moisture to reach egg
- Fertilization
- Zygote develops into sporophyte embryo
- Sporophyte grows long stalk that emerges from archegonium
- Attached by foot, sporophyte remain nutritionally dependent n gametophyte
- Meiosis occurs and haploid spores develop in capsule; spores released
Protonema
mass of green, branched, one-cell-thick filaments
Gametophyte
Gamete-producing structure
Rhizoids
Long, tubular single cells (in liverworts and hornworts) or filaments of cells (in mosses) that anchor gametophytes
Typical Bryophyte structure
- Foot: Absorbes nutrients from gametophyte
- Seta: Stalk conducts materials to sporangium
- Capsule: Uses nutrients to produce spores by meiosis
Ecological importance of mosses
- Colonize bare, sandy soil where they help retain nitrogen
- In coniferous forests, harbor nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria that increase availability of nitrogen in the ecosystem
- Inhabit extreme environments
- Phenolic compounds absorb dangerous UV radiation present in deserts at high altitudes
- Peat moss serves as fuel
First plants to grow tall
- likely to have been ferns and other seedless vascular plants
Xylem
- Conducts most of water and minerals; include tracheids (tube shaped cells that carry water and minerals up from the roots)
Lignin
- Cell walls of plant are strengthened by this polymer
- Allowed plants to grow taller