Plant kingdom

Kingdom Classification of Living Organism:-

1. Two kingdom classification:- [Aristotle] plants and animals
2. Three kingdom classification:- [Earnst Haeckel (1866)] Protista
3. Four kingdom classification:- [Herbert Copeland (1956)] monera
4. five kingdom classification:- [R. H. Whittaker (1969)] fungi
5. six kingdom classification:- [carl whose] monera- archaebacterial,
eubacteria

All the classification system, starting from that of Aristotle to

the 20th century, can be divided into three types Artificial,
Natural and Phylogenetic.

1. Artificial system: Classification based on few morphological

characters. Theophrastus, Pliny and Linnaeus used artificial system of
classification.

2. Natural system: Classification based on all the important related

characters. Both external and internal. Bentham and hooker, Adanson,
Candolle used natural system of classification.

3. Phylogenetic system: Classification based on evolutionary

relationship of plants. Eichler, Blessy, Whittaker, Engler and Prantl,
Hutchinson used phylogeny

. Numerical taxonomy: Taxonomy based on statistical methods with equal

importance using computer.

Cytotaxonomy: Taxonomy based on cytology or cell structure

(chromosome number, shape, behaviour etc).
Chemotaxonomy: Taxonomy based on chemical constituents of plants
(nature of protein, DNA sequence, taste, smell etc).

EICHLERS CLASSIFICATION: Classification of Plant kingdom based on

flowering. Divided into two-Cryptogamae (non flowering, seedless plants)
and Phanerogamae (flowering, seed bearing plants). Based on plant body
Cryptogamae divided into Thallophyta, Bryophyta and Pteridophyta.
Thallophyta: Plant body is thallus like (undifferentiated plant body)
Bryophyta: plant body with root like structure, stem like structure,
vascular tissues are absent). Pteridophyta: Plant body is differentiated
into true root, stem and leaves. Vascular tissues are present so called
vascular cryptogams.

Thallophytes again divided into :-

• Algae (pigmented thallophytes)

• Fungi (nonpigmented thallophytes)

• Lichens: Symbiotic association between algae and fungi.

Phanerogamae divided into two

• 1. Gymonosperma (naked seed plants) and

 • 2. Angiosperma (covered seeded plants) Angiosperms are again divided
into two :-

a. Monocots (have single cotyledon, fibrous root system and parallel

venation)

b. Dicots (have two cotyledons, tap root system and reticulate

venation). Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms are called
Tracheophytes due to the presence of vascular tissue. Bryophyta,
Pteridophyta, Gymnosperms and Angiosperms are called Embryophyta as
they have embryo.

ALGAE:-
o Algae are chlorophyll-bearing, simple, thalloid, autotrophic and
largely aquatic plants.
o They occur in moist stones, soils, and wood or in association with
fungi and animals.
o Eg- chlamydomonas (microsporic unicellular), volvox (colonial),
ulothrix and spirogyra (filamentous).
Example-1. Lichen is the association of algae with fungi.
2. Algae grow on the body of sloth bear.

o Some algae are unicellular, some exist in colonial or filamentous

forms, and a few marine plants form massive plant bodies.
o The algae reproduce by vegetative, asexual, and sexual methods.
o Vegetative reproduction is by fragmentation, where each fragment
develops into a thallus.
o Asexual reproduction is by the production of flagellated zoospores
which on germination give rise to new plants.
o Sexual reproduction takes place through fusion of two gametes, if
the gametes with or without flagella are similar in size they
are isogamous, if dissimilar in size they are anisogamous , and if
female gamete is large, non-motile and male gamete is smaller,
motile, the gametes are termed as oogamous.
o Isogamous gametes with flagella are seen in ulothrix
[Chlamydomonas] and without flagella are seen in Spirogyra ,
anisogamous gametes are seen in in some species of odogonia
[Chlamydomonas], and oogamous gametes are seen in Volvox, Fucus.

o Algae are useful to human beings in the following ways:

o Fix carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and increase the level of
dissolved oxygen.
o Primary producers of energy-rich compounds.
o Many species of Porphyra, Laminaria, and Sargassum are used as
food.
o Certain marine brown and red algae produce large amounts
of hydrocolloids (polysaccharides of high molecular) which are used
commercially.
o For example- align is produced by brown algae and carrageen is
produced by red algae
o Agar, one of the commercial products obtained
from Gelidium and Gracilaria are used to grow microbes and in
preparations of ice-creams and jellies.
o Chlorella (without flagella) and Spirullina are unicellular algae, rich
in proteins and are used as food supplements.
o The algae are divided into three main classes: Chlorophyceae,
Phaeophyceae and Rhodophyceae.

o Chlorophyceae:-
o Commonly called as green algae.
o They are usually grass green due to the dominance of pigments
chlorophyll a and b.
o Most of the members have one or more storage bodies
called pyrenoids (protein present in center) located in the
chloroplasts, which contain protein besides starch.
o Green algae usually have a rigid cell wall made of an inner layer of
cellulose and an outer layer of pectose.
o Vegetative reproduction usually takes place by fragmentation or by
different types of spores, asexual reproduction is by flagellated
zoospores produced in zoosporangia, and the sexual reproduction by
the formation of sex cells and it may be isogamous, anisogamous or
oogamous.
o Some commonly found green algae are: Chlamydomonas, Volvox (2
equal flagella), Ulothrix, Spirogyra and Chara.

o Phaeophyceae:-
o Phaeophyceae or brown algae are found primarily in marine
habitats.
o They possess chlorophyll a, c, carotenoids and xanthophylls.
o They vary in color from olive green to various shades of brown
depending upon the amount of the xanthophyll pigment,
fucoxanthin present in them.
o Food is stored as laminarin or mannitol.
o The vegetative cells have a cellulosic wall usually covered on the
outside by a gelatinous coating of align.
o The plant body is usually attached to the substratum by a
holdfast, and has a stalk, the stipe and leaf like photosynthetic
organ – the frond.
o Vegetative reproduction takes place by fragmentation, asexual
reproduction is by biflagellate zoospores that are pear-shaped
and have two unequal laterally attached flagella.
o Sexual reproduction may be isogamous, anisogamous or oogamous
where the gametes are pyriform and bear two laterally attached
flagella.
o The common forms are Ectocarpus, kelp, Dictyota, Laminaria,
Sargassum, and Fucus.

o Rhodophyceae:-

o Rhodophyceae are commonly called red algae because of the

predominance of the red pigment, r-phycoerythrin in their body.
o The red thalli of most of the red algae are multicellular.
o The food is stored as floridean starch.
o The red algae usually reproduce vegetatively by fragmentation,
reproduce asexually by non-motile spores, and sexually by non-
motile gametes.
 The common members are: Polysiphonia, Porphyra, Gracilaria and
Gelidium.

BRYOPHYTES:-
o Bryophytes include various mosses and liverworts, commonly grow in
moist shaded areas in the hills.
o Bryophytes are also called amphibians of the plant
kingdom because these plants can live in soil but are dependent on
water for sexual reproduction.
o Plant body is thallus-like and prostrate or erect, and attached to
the substratum by unicellular or multicellular rhizoids.
o They lack true roots, stem or leaves and may possess root-like, leaf-
like or stem-like structures.
o The main plant body of the bryophyte is haploid, produces gametes,
and hence is called a gametophyte.
o The male sex organ is called antheridium, which produce biflagellate
antherozoids and the female sex organ called archegonium is flask-
shaped, produces a single egg.
o The antherozoids are released into water where they come in
contact with archegonium and fuses with the egg to produce the
zygote.
o Zygotes produce a multicellular body called a sporophyte, which is
not free-living but attached to the photosynthetic gametophyte and
derives nourishment from it.
o Some cells of the sporophyte undergo reduction division to produce
haploid spores, which germinate to produce gametophyte.
o The bryophytes are divided into liverworts and mosses.
o Rhizoids in the liverworts, they are absent or unicellular,
but multicelled in mosses.

Liverworts:-
o The liverworts grow usually in moist, shady habitats.
o The plant body of a liverwort is thalloid, the thallus is dorsiventral
and closely appressed to the substrate.
o Asexual reproduction in liverworts takes place by fragmentation of
thalli, or by the formation of specialized structures called gammae.
 o Gemmae are green, multicellular, asexual buds, which develop in
small receptacles called gemma cups located on the thalli.
o The sporophyte is differentiated into a foot, seta, and capsule.
o After meiosis, spores are produced within the capsule, the spores
germinate to form free-living gametophytes.

Mosses:-
o The predominant stage of the life cycle of a moss is the
gametophyte which consists of two stages:
1. Protonema stage, which develops directly from a spore.
2. Leafy stage, which develops from the secondary protonema as a lateral
bud.
o They are attached to the soil through multicellular and branched
rhizoids.
o Vegetative reproduction in mosses is by fragmentation and budding
in the secondary protonema.
o In sexual reproduction, the sex organs antheridia and archegonia
produce zygote which develops into a sporophyte, consisting of a
foot, seta and capsule.
Examples of mosses are Funaria, Polytrichum, peat moss (sphagnum)
also it has a packing uses due to absorbing capacity of water.

PTERIDOPHYTES:-
o The pteridophytes are found in cool, damp, shady places.
o It is also called vascular cryptograms.
o The main plant body is a sporophyte which is differentiated into
true root, stem and leaves, possess well-differentiated vascular
tissues.
o The sporophytes bear sporangia that are subtended by leaf-like
appendages called sporophylls, which may form distinct compact
structures called strobili or cones.
o The sporangia produce spores by meiosis in spore mother cells, the
spores germinate to give rise to thalloid gametophytes called
prothallus.
o The gametophytes bear male and female sex organs
called antheridia and archegonia, respectively.
o Water is required for transfer of antherozoids to the mouth of
archegonium and fusion of male gamete with the egg present in the
archegonium result in the formation of zygote.
o Zygote produces a multicellular well-differentiated sporophyte
which is the dominant phase of the pteridophytes.
o If all the spores are of similar kinds; such plants are
called homosporous and if the spores are dissimilar such as micro
and macrospores, these are called as heterosporous.
Example- Selaginella and Salvinia produce micro and macrospores.

o The development of the zygotes into young embryos take place

within the female gametophytes.
o The pteridophytes are further classified into four classes:-
1. Psilopsida- (Eg. Psilotum)
2. Lycopsida- ( Eg.Selaginella, Lycopodium)
3. Sphenopsida- ( Eg.Equisetum)
4. Pteropsida- (Eg. Dryopteris, Pteris, polypodium).

GYMNOSPERMS:-
o The gymnosperms are plants in which the ovules are not enclosed by
any ovary wall and remain exposed.
o The giant redwood tree Sequoia is one of the tallest tree species
belongs to gymnosperms.
o The roots are generally tap roots, in some genera have fungal
association in the form of mycorrhiza (Eg.,Pinus), while in some
others (Eg.Cycas- DIOECIOUS) small specialized roots called coralloid
roots are associated with N2- fixing cyanobacteria.
o The stems are unbranched (Eg.,Cycas) or branched (Eg.,Pinus).
o The leaves may be simple or compound, such as pinnate leaves in
Cycas and needle-like leaves in conifers.
o The gymnosperms are heterosporous, haploid microspores and
megaspores are produced within sporangia on sporophylls which are
arranged spirally along an axis to form compact strobili or cones.
o The strobili bearing microsporophylls and microsporangia are
called microsporangiate or male strobili.
o The microspores develop into a male gametophyte which is highly
reduced called as a pollen grain.
o The cones bearing megasporophylls with ovules or megasporangia are
called macrosporangiate or female strobili.
o The megaspore mother cell is differentiated from one of the cells
of the nucellus, protected by envelopes and the composite structure
is called an ovule.
o The megaspore mother cell divides meiotically to form four
megaspores, one of the megaspores enclosed within the
megasporangium (nucellus) develops into a multicellular female
gametophyte that bears two or more archegonia or female sex
organs.
o The male and the female gametophytes and the pollen grain are
released, carried in air currents and come in contact with the
opening of the ovules borne on megasporophylls
o The pollen tube carrying the male gametes grows towards
archegonia in the ovules and discharge their contents near the
mouth of the archegonia for fertilization which leads to formation
zygote and finally uncovered seeds.

ANGIOSPERMS:-
o In the angiosperms or flowering plants, the pollen grains and ovules
are developed in specialized structures called flowers and the seeds
are enclosed by fruits.
o They are divided into two classes
o The dicotyledons - characterized by having two cotyledons in their
seeds.
o The monocotyledons- have only one cotyledon.
o The male sex organs in a flower is the stamen, consists of a slender
filament with an anther at the tip and the anthers, following
meiosis, produce pollen grains.
o The female sex organs in a flower is the pistil or the carpel, consists
of an ovary enclosing one to many ovules.
o Within ovules highly reduced female gametophytes are present,
termed as embryo sacs.
o The embryo-sac formation is preceded by meiosis.
o Each embryo-sac has a three-celled egg apparatus – one egg cell and
two synergids, three antipodal cells and two polar nuclei, the polar
nuclei eventually fuse to produce a diploid secondary nucleus.
o Pollen grain, after dispersal from the anthers, are carried by wind
or various other agencies to the stigma of a pistil this is termed
as pollination.
o The pollen tubes enter the embryo-sac where two male gametes are
discharged, one of the male gametes fuses with the egg cell to form
a zygote (syngamy) and the other male gamete fuses with the diploid
secondary nucleus to produce the triploid primary endosperm
nucleus (PEN), termed as double fertilization.
o The zygote develops into an embryo and the PEN develops into
endosperm which provides nourishment to the developing embryo.
o The synergids and antipodal cells degenerate after fertilization,
during these events the ovules develop into seeds and the ovaries
develop into fruit.
ALTERNATION OF GENERATION:-
o Haploid and diploid cells produce haploid and diploid plant bodies,
respectively, by mitosis.
o The haploid plant body produces gametes and hence represents
gametophytes.
o The zygote divides by mitosis to produce a diploid sporophytic plant
body and this plant body produces haploid spores by meiosis, which
again divides by mitosis to produce haploid plant body.

Different plant groups representing gametophytes and sporophytes

differ in the following patterns:

# Haplontic:-
o Sporophytic generation is represented only by the one-celled zygote
and free-living sporophytes are absent.
o Haploid spores are formed by meiosis, which divide mitotically to
form the gametophyte.
o The dominant, photosynthetic phase in such plants is the free-living
gametophyte.
Examples-Volvox, Spirogyra and some species of Chlamydomomas.
Fig. haplontic life cycle

# Diplontic:-
o Here, the diploid sporophyte is the dominant, photosynthetic,
independent phase of the plant.
o The gametophytic phase is represented by the single to few-celled
haploid gametophyte.

For example- An alga, Fucus sp., represents this pattern addition, all
seed bearing plants i.e., gymnosperms and angiosperms, follow this
patterns with some variations, wherein, the gametophytic phase is few
to multi-celled.

Fig. diplontic life cycle

# Haplo-diplontic:-
o A dominant, independent, photosynthetic, thalloid or erect phase is
represented by a haploid gametophyte and it alternates with the
short lived multicellular sporophyte. Example- bryophytes
o The diploid sporophyte is represented by a dominant, independent,
photosynthetic, vascular plant body. It alternates with multicellular,
saprophytic/autotrophic, independent but short-lived haploid
gametophyte. Example- pteridophytes.
o Some alga genera such as Ectocarpus, Polysiphonia, kelps are haplo-
diplontic.
Fig. haplo-diplontic life cycle