Plants (Chapters 29 & 30 and Unit 6 & 8)

WHY are they important?: Food, carbon regulation, O2 prod.

Habitat, timber, medicine and beautiful ecology to enjoy!
What is a Plant?

• Multicellular
eukaryote
• Photosynthetic
– Chlorophyll (a & b)
• Alternation of
generations
• Non-motile organisms
• Cell wall of Cellulose
• 290,000 species!
Are these plants? NO! Algae =  = Protists
Land Plants (Embryophytes) evolved from
Green Algae ~470mya. There are 3 Possible
“Plant” Kingdoms

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.2

Plants evolved from green algae

• Green algae called charophytes are the

closest relatives of plants

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Synapomorphies of Plants and Charophytes
• Rings of Cellulose-synthesizing
Proteins
• Peroxisome Enzymes
• Structure of Flagellated Sperm
• Phragmoplasts
• Sporopollenin
Plantae Synapomorphies
• Four key traits appear in nearly all land plants, but
not in charophytes
1. Alternation of generations
2. Multicellular, dependent embryos
2. Walled spores produced in sporangia
3. Multicellular gametangia
4. Apical meristems
** we will go over these in the next slides**
Alternation of Generations

• Plants alternate between two multicellular

generations, a reproductive cycle called
alternation of generations
• The gametophyte generation is haploid and
produces haploid gametes by mitosis
• Fusion of a sperm and egg gives rise to the
diploid sporophyte, which produces haploid
spores by meiosis
• Spores develop into gametophytes

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Multicellular,
Dependent Embryos
• Zygotes Retained within Female
Gametophyte- Provides
nourishment to Embryo via
pacental transfer cells
Embryo with Placental Transfer Cells
• This is analogous to some algae, Analogous Chorionic Villi
but NOT seen in Charophytes

• Plants are called

embryophytes because of
the dependency of the
embryo on the parent

Figure 29.3, pg 618

Walled spores within sporangia
• Sporangia:
multicellular
organs that
produce spores

• 2n sporocytes
(mother cells)
inside sporangia
produce haploid
spores via meiosis

• + Sporopollenin
in spore walls
further protects
spores from harsh
environments
Figure 29.5
Up close of Dominant Gametophyte and reduced
Sporophyte

Figure 29.3ca
Up close of Walled Spores Produced in Sporangia of
the sporophyte

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.3cb

Multicellular Gametangia: Organs that
produce gametes
Antheridia: male gametangia (prod. sperm)
Archegonia: female gametangia (each prod. 1 single egg)
Fertilization occurs within an archegonium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhPhivzLJ1g
Figure 29.3
Female gametophytes are more tree like and males are
flattened.

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.3da

Apical Meristems in roots and shoots
• ↑ Length in Localized Regions of Mitosis (growth) & allows
for differentiation into various tissues
• Present in roots in shoots
(Bio 201A content)

Figure 29.3
 What was easy about living in water?
• No desiccation (drying out)
• Sperm swims
• Gravity not an issue
• Absorb nutrients from H2O all over body

Chara: multicellular
Freshwater alga.
Superficially
resemble land plants
because of stem-like
and leaf-like
structures
 Why go terrestrial?

• ↑ Bright Light
(unfiltered by water or plankton)
• ↑ Availability of CO2
• ↑ Mineral Availability in Soil
• ↓ Herbivory (initially– no one
on land had ever “seen” a
plant before so not adapted
to eat them)
Plant Adaptations to Land
Problems: Solutions:
• Need minerals • Roots absorb H2O & minerals,
mycorrhizae
• Gravity
• Lignin & cellulose in cell walls,
Vascular tissue
• ↑ UV
• Secondary Compounds: Flavonoids
& Dominance of Sporophyte

• Desiccation • Cuticle & stomata

• Reproduction • Pollen containing sperm
microscopic
image of leaf
showing sunken
stomata and
outer cuticle and
epidermis
 Plant Evolution- Bryophytes came 1st at ~470 mya

Figure 29.6a
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Plant taxonomy/ Clades

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.6b

 Plants are classified into 2 main groups
• Non-vascular plants
(bryophytes= Grade,
composed of 3
clades)

• Vascular plants a
clade composed of
several small clades
Non-vascular bryophytes:
• 3 Phyla Liverworts Mosses

(3 clades)
– Bryophyta
Mosses
Hornworts Moss Gametophytes &

– Hepatophyta
Liverworts Sporophytes

– Anthocerophyta
Hornworts
• All 3 Clades are small, herbaceous
(nonwoody) plants
Nonvascular Plant Characteristics
• No vascular tissue
– No support, transport
• Rhizoids, but no roots
• Require moist
environment
– Why? (think reprod!)
• Sporophyte lives on
gametophyte=
**gametophyte stage is
dominant, larger stage**
• Sporophytes are not Moss Gametophytes &
present all the time! Sporophytes
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihj3UfSxRqA
 Peat moss: bryophyte with economic,
ecological, and archaeological significance
• Sphagnum, or “peat
moss,” forms extensive
deposits of partially
decayed organic
material known as peat
• Peat can be used as a
source of fuel
• The low temperature,
pH, and oxygen level of
peatlands inhibit decay
1 m
of moss and other
organisms Figure 29.11
Vascular Plants Originated 425 mya

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.6

Vascular Plants
• The earliest fossils of vascular plants date to 425
million years ago
• 93% of all species
• Tracheophytes (with vascular tissue for support,
transport) all plants to grow tall!!!
• Well developed leaves and roots
• Sporophyte is dominant
Vascular System
• Xylem – move water and minerals from roots up, in
dead tube shaped cells called tracheid cells
• Phloem – move sugars, amino acids and other
organics made during photosynthesis from the leaves
(source) to where they will be stored or used (sink)
• Sap-is the fluid carried inside the xylem or phloem

Vascular Bundles
Evolution of Roots

• Roots are organs that anchor vascular plants

• They enable vascular plants to absorb water
and nutrients from the soil
• Roots may have evolved from subterranean
stems

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Evolution of Leaves
• Leaves are organs that
increase the surface area of
vascular plants, thereby
capturing more solar energy
that is used for
photosynthesis
• Leaves are categorized by
two types:
– Microphylls, small, often
spine-shaped leaves with
a single vein
– Megaphylls, larger
leaves with a highly
branched vascular
system
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Microphylls– unbranched leaves with 1 vein

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Megaphyll Leaves- branched with several veins.

Figure 29.13b
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Sporophylls and Spore Variations

• Most seedless vascular plants are

homosporous, producing one type of spore
that develops into a bisexual gametophyte
• All seed plants and some seedless vascular
plants are heterosporous
• Heterosporous species produce
megaspores, which give rise to female
gametophytes, and microspores, which give
rise to male gametophytes

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Homosporous vs. Heterosporous
one vs. two types of spores, Page 629

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Vascular plant
life cycle

Larger and more complex

than the gametophyte
Free living

Generalized life cycle of a vascular plant

Classification of Seedless Vascular Plants
• There are two clades of seedless vascular
plants
– Phylum Lycophyta includes club mosses, spike
mosses, and quillworts
– Phylum Monilophyta includes ferns, horsetails,
and whisk ferns and their relatives

• Living lycophytes are small herbaceous plants

• Club mosses and spike mosses have
vascular tissues and are not true mosses (aka
not in the phylum Bryophyta)
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Seedless Vascular Plants
• Club moss (Lycophyta)
• Horsetails (Monilophyta)
• Whisk ferns (Monilophyta)
• Ferns (Monilophyta)
Equisetum arvense,
Athyrium
field horsetail
filix-femina,
lady fern Vegetative stem
Strobilus on
fertile stem

1.5 cm
25 cm

Psilotum
nudum,
a whisk
fern
4 cm

Whisk ferns Horsetails Figure 29.14

Club moss (Lycophyta) Fig 29.14

microphylls

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The ancestors of modern lycophytes, horsetails, and ferns
grew to great heights during the Devonian and
Carboniferous, forming the first forests

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Seeds changed the course of plant evolution
• Seeds, enabled their bearers to become the
dominant producers in most terrestrial
ecosystems
• Seed plants originated about 360 million
years ago
• A seed consists of an embryo and nutrients
surrounded by a protective coat
• Seeds can disperse over long distances by
wind or other means

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Seed-Bearing Vascular Plants
• Seed – embryo in arrested development with
food source
• Two groups:
– Gymnosperms (conifers)
– Angiosperms (flowering plants)
Gymnosperm Clades Cycad

• Cycadophyta – cycads
• Ginkgophyta – Ginkgo
• Gnetophyta- Gentae http://www.cycadgroup.org/?page_id=567

• Coniferophyta (conifers) Ginkgo

– Pine, cedar, redwood & fir
Pine

Gentae

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVLACJsoGjk
Gymnosperms– an old example!
• Oldest living plant –
Bristlecone pine – >
5,000 years old
• Tallest living plant –
Sequoia or redwood

Hyperion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv3u-atw9S8
Gymnosperms life cycle
• Sporophyte (2N)
produces cones which
house male and
female gametophytes.
– Pollen (male)
– Egg (female)
• Fertilization 
sporophyte
What about the Angiosperms?

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.6

Angiosperms
• Phylum Anthophyta
• Flowering plants
• 250,000 species
• Flowers contains
stamen and/or
ovaries
• Fruits = ripened
ovaries
– why?
Fruits
• A fruit is formed
when the ovary wall
thickens and matures
• Fruits protect seeds
and aid in dispersal
• Mature fruits can be
fleshy or dry
• Seeds in fruit can be
carried by wind,
water, or animals to
new locations
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Previously, angiosperms were divided into
two main groups
– Monocots (one cotyledon)
– Dicots (two cotyledons)

• The clade eudicot (“true” dicots) includes

most dicots

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Monocots and Eudicots
Monocots
• About one-quarter of angiosperms, about
70,000 species, are monocots
• The largest groups are the orchids, grasses,
and palms

Eudicots
• More than two-thirds of angiosperms, about
170,000 species, are eudicots
• Eudicots include the large legume family and
the economically important rose family
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Monocots vs Eudicots Charateristics
– Monocots have a single seed cotyledon (primordial leaf)
– Eudicots have two seed cotyledons

Fig 30.16
Flowering Plant Lifecycle
PLANT REPRODUCTION—KNOW THIS TABLE
(30.2 pg 635) FOR FINAL
The Life Cycle of a Moss

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.7

The peristome in mosses is a specialized structure in the
sporangium. It allows for gradual spore release. The capsule
lid drops off once spores are mature and ready to be released.
Figure 29.8a

2 mm
1 m
Capsule with peristome (LM)
Animation: Moss Life Cycle

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Bryophyte Gametophytes, part 1
• A spore germinates into a gametophyte
composed of a protonema and one or more
gamete-producing gametophores
• The height of gametophytes is constrained by
lack of vascular tissues
• Rhizoids anchor gametophytes to substrate
• Mature gametophytes produce flagellated
sperm in antheridia and an egg in each
archegonium
• Sperm swim through a film of water to reach
and fertilize the egg
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Bryophyte Gametophytes, part 2

• Many bryophytes also reproduce asexually

– For example, some mosses produce brood
bodies, small plantlets that detach from the parent
plant and grow into genetically identical copies of
their parent

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Bryophyte Sporophytes

• Bryophyte sporophytes never live

independently of the gametophyte; they are
the smallest and simplest sporophytes of all
extant plant groups
• A sporophyte consists of a foot, a seta
(stalk), and a sporangium, also called a
capsule, which discharges spores through a
peristome
• Hornwort and moss sporophytes have
stomata; liverworts do not
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Gametophyte and sporophytes of Marchantia liverwort)

Liverworts (Phylum Hepatophyta)

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.8a

Thallus and Female gametophyte of Marchantia

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Anthoceros hornwort species

1 m
Figure 29.9b
Polytrichum commune: hairy-cap moss
Mosses (Phylum Bryophyta)

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Figure 29.8c
Life Cycles with Dominant Sporophytes

• In contrast with bryophytes, sporophytes of

seedless vascular plants are the larger, more
complex generation
– For example, in ferns, the familiar leafy plants are
the sporophytes; the gametophytes are tiny plants
that grow on or below the soil surface

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The Life Cycle of a Fern

© 2017 Pearson Education, Inc. Figure 29.12

Animation: Fern Life Cycle

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2N sporophytes produce 1N spores inside a
sporangium via meiosis

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Gametophyte development in Fern

1N spores develop into small

gametophytes. Mature 1N
gametophytes produced sperm
in male antheridium and eggs
inside the female archegonium.

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Archegonium and Antheridium

1N spores develop into small

gametophytes. Mature 1N
gametophytes produced sperm in
male antheridium and 1 egg inside
each female archegonium.

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Fertilization occurs inside female archegonium

The zygote (2N)

develops into a
sporophyte ON
TOP of the
female
gametophyte.
The sporophyte
eventually
completely
smothers the
gametophyte.

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