1.

Sexual Reproduction in Flowering plants

2. Organisms & Populations

3. Ecosystem
 SEXUAL REPRODUCTION
IN
FLOWERING PLANTS

r
!
!
Synopsis
!

Flower - A fascinating Organ of Angiosperms

Pre - Fertilization - Structure & Events

Pollination

Double Fertilization

Post - Fertilization changes

Apomixis & Polyembryony

Flower - A Fascinating Organ of sexual reproduction in angiosperms

B-
Do
Flowers are the characteristic organs of sexual reproduction
in angiosperms.

Flower is a modified shoot with nodes, highly condensed

internodes and a group of floral leaves.
PRE-FERTILISATION STRUCTURE AND EVENTS

Typically a bisexual flower has four floral whorls namely

calyx, corolla, androecium and gynoecium.
Male Reproductive Organ
&
Microsporogenesis
A Typical Stamen

3D Section of an Anther
Androecium is the male part of a flower.

It is composed of numerous male reproductive structures called

stamens.
Each stamen consists of a
filament
anther
connective.

The pollen grains or microspores are produced within the anther

of the stamen.
Structure of Anther
%
%
The anther or microsporangium is a bilobed structure

It has four pollen sacs.

The anther wall is composed of 4 layers.

Epidermis
Endothecium
Middle layers
Tapetum.
$

The outer three wall layers perform the function of protection

and help in dehiscence of anther to release the pollen.

The innermost wall layer is the tapetum. It nourishes the

developing pollen grains.

Cells of the tapetum possess dense cytoplasm and generally

have more than one nucleus.
Microsporogenesis
Pollen Tetrad
 Development of the Male gametophyte
(Microsporogenesis)

The process of formation of microspores from a pollen mother

cell (PMC) through meiosis is called microsporongenesis.

The stamen is developed as a small projection which elongates

and the tip becomes 4-lobed.

Each lobe contains an elongated microsporangium.

a
Pollen Grain
Pollen grain
mom
zq
Pollen grains are generally spherical and has a two layered wall.

The outer layer is thick and is called exine and the inner is thin
and smooth called intine, and is made up of cellulose and pectin

Exine is tough, cutinized and is made up of a complex substance

sporopollenin

Pollen grain exine has prominent apertures called germ pores

where sporopollenin is absent.
 Sporopollenin

It is one of the most resistant organic material known.

It can withstand high temperatures and strong acids and alkali.

No enzyme that degrades sporopollenin is so far known.

Pollen grains are wellpreserved as fossils because of the

presence of sporopollenin.
Structure of Pollen Grain
✍
✍

The pollen grain or microspore is the first cell of the male

gametophyte.

The first division of the pollen grain results in two unequal

cells.

The larger one is the vegetative cell and a small generative

cell.

In most of the angiosperms, the pollen grains are liberated at

the two-celled stage.
Significance of Pollen grain

Pollen grains are rich in nutrients.

Pollen tablets has been used as food supplements.

In western countries, a large number of pollen products in the

form of tablets and syrups are available in the market.

Pollen consumption has been claimed to increase the performance

of athletes and racing horses.
 Pollen Allergy

Pollen grains of many species cause severe allergies and

bronchial afflictions.

In some people it may lead to chronic respiratory disorders–

asthma, bronchitis etc.

Parthenium or carrot grass that came into India as a

contaminant with imported wheat, has become ubiquitous in
occurrence and causes pollen allergy.
Pollen Viability
When once they are shed, pollen grains have to land on the
stigma before they lose viability if they have to bring about
fertilisation.

The period for which pollen grains remain viable is highly

variable and to some extent depends on the prevailing
temperature and humidity.
In some cereals such as rice and wheat, pollen grains lose
viability within 30 minutes of their release, and in some
members of Rosaceae, Leguminoseae and Solanaceae, they
maintain viability for months.

It is possible to store pollen grains of a large number of species

for years in liquid nitrogen at 196
Female Reproductive
Organ
 Female Reproductive Organ

The Pistil, Megasporangium and Embryo Sac

Structure of a Carpel
Each pistil has three parts

1.stigma - serves as a landing platform for pollen grains

2.style - elongated slender part beneath the stigma

3.ovary - basal bulged part of the pistil

Inside the ovary is the ovarian cavity (locule)
The placenta is located inside the ovarian cavity.
 Types of Carpels

Multicarpel
Apocarpous
Syncar/
your

Michelia
Papaver
Structure of the Ovule

Stigma

Style

Ovary
Ovule
A typical Anatropus Ovule
Female Gametophyte
The embryo sac contains 8 nuclei – 3 celled egg apparatus at
micropylar end (2 synergids and an egg in the centre and 3 celled
antipodals at chalazal end.)

A diploid secondary nucleus or polar nuclei is seen at the centre of

the embryo sac
Megasporogenesis
 Megasporogenesis
The development of the ovule upto the formation of the megaspore
is called megasporogenesis.
Development of the Female gametophyte (Megasporogenesis)

→ →
.

←
Female Gametophyte
$
Steps in Megasporogenesis

r The ovule arises as a small protuberance of on the placenta in

the cavity of the ovary.

The main body of the ovule consists of parenchymatous tissue

called nucellus covered by integuments

The integuments cover the nucellus except at the micropylar

present at the top.
$

At the micropylar end of the nucellus, a single cell is differentiated

It is the megaspore mother cell, which undergoes meiosis to

form a linear tetrad of 4 haploid megaspores.

Usually one megaspore of the tetrad becomes functional and

develops further.

This functional megaspore is the first cell of the female

gametophyte.
Pollination
Pollination

Pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from the

anther to the stigma a flower.
 Kinds of Pollination

L V
s

Autogamy Geitonogamy Xenogamy

Autogamy

When the pollen grains are transferred from anther to

the stigma of the same flower , it is called autogamy.
 Self pollination

Chasmogamous Cleistogamous
Flower Flower
"
"
Cleistogamous and Chasmogamous

Some plants such as Viola, Oxalis, and Commelina

produce two types of flowers.

Chasmogamous flowers which are similar to flowers

of other species with exposed anthers and stigma.

Cleistogamous flowers which do not open at all In such

flowers, the anthers and stigma lie close to each other.
“Cleistogamous flowers are invariably autogamous as
there is no chance of cross-pollen landing on the
stigma.”
Geitonogamy

When the pollen grains are transferred from anther of

a flower to the stigma of another flower of the same
plant, it is called Geitonogamy.
Cross – pollination (Xenogamy)

The transfer of pollen grains from anther to the stigma

of different plant is called Xenogamy. It brings about
genetic recombination.
Agents of Pollination
 Agents of Pollination

Abiotic Agents Biotic Agents

Abiotic Agents I

Wind : Eg: Grasses, Corn

Water : Eg: Vallisnaria, Hydrilla, Zostera etc

 Biotic Agents

Majority of plants use biotic agents for pollination.

Bees, butterflies, flies, beetles, wasps, ants,

moths, birds and bats are the common pollinating
agents.

Among the animals, insects, particularly bees are the

dominant biotic pollinating agents.
 Wind Pollination

1. They are unisexual

2. They are neither coloured or showy

3. They do not secrete nectar

4. Anther and stigma are exposed and projected outside the

flower
5. Pollen grains are light and non sticky

6. Pollen grains may be winged and stigmas are feathery

Water Pollination - Characteristic Features

Pollination by water is limited to about 30 genera, mostly

monocotyledons.

Water is a regular mode of transport for male gametes

among the lower plant groups.

Pollen grains in many species are long, ribbon like and are
carried passively inside the water.

In most of the water-pollinated species pollen grains are

protected from wetting by a mucilaginous covering.
Water Pollination in Vallisnaria
"

In a majority of aquatic plants such as water hyacinth

and water lily, the flowers emerge above the level of
water and are pollinated by insects or wind.
!
!

INSECT POLLINATION

Majority of insect-pollinated flowers are large, colourful,

fragrant and rich in nectar.

When the flowers are small, a number of flowers are

clustered into an inflorescence to make them conspicuous

The flowers pollinated by flies and beetles secrete foul

odours to attract animals.
Outbreeding Devices
$
Outbreeding devices
=

Devices for Cross Pollination

Anther and stigma mature at different times

$
Anther and Stigma are placed at different positions

Production of unisexual flowers

Self-incompatibility
Self-incompatibility

This is a genetic mechanism and prevents self-pollen from

fertilising the ovules by inhibiting pollen germination or
pollen tube growth in the pistil.
Pollen-Pistil Interaction
&
Artificial Hybridisation
Pollen tube, after reaching the ovary, enters the ovule
through the micropyle and then enters one of the synergids
through the filiform apparatus

Filiform apparatus present at the micropylar part of the

synergids guides the entry of pollen tube.

All these events–from pollen deposition on the stigma until

pollen tubes enter the ovule are together referred to as
pollen-pistil interaction
$

Steps in Artificial Hybridisation

Selection of Parents

Emasculation

Bagging

Crossing

ReBagging

Harvesting of Seeds
Emasculation
If the female parent bears bisexual flowers, removal of
anthers from the flower bud before the anther dehisces
using a pair of forceps is necessary. This step is referred
to as emasculation.

Bagging
Emasculated flowers have to be covered with a bag of
suitable size, generally made up of butter paper, to
prevent contamination of its stigma with unwanted
pollen. This process is called bagging.
DOUBLE FERTILISATION
Since two types of fusions, syngamy and triple
fusion take place in an embryo sac the
phenomenon is termed double fertilisation, an
event unique to flowering plants.
POST FERTILIZATION CHANGES
 ! "In"
Polar Nuclei PEN =
Endosperm
.

&

! Cell an
Egg
Zygote =

Embryo
Ovule Seed
Ovary Fruit
Nucellus
Perisperm
Integuments Seed Coat
Nuclear & Cellular Endosperm

In the most common type of endosperm development, the

PEN undergoes successive nuclear divisions to give rise to
free nuclei. This stage of endosperm development is called
free-nuclear endosperm.

Subsequently cell wall formation occurs and the endosperm

becomes cellular.
Non - Endospermous & Endospermous seeds

Endosperm which are completely consumed by the

developing embryo before seed maturation are called
Non-Endospermous seeds
Eg : Pea, Groundnut, Beans

Endosperm which persist in the mature seed are called

Endospermous seeds
Eg : Castor and coconut
Embryo
Embryo is the diploid tissue formed from egg cell by the
process of Double Fertilization.

Embryo develops at the micropylar end of the embryo sac

where the zygote is situated.
The zygote gives rise to the proembryo and subsequently
to the globular, heart-shaped and mature embryo.
Dicot Embryo Monocot Embryo

< -

C
SEED
In angiosperms, the seed is the final product of sexual
reproduction.

Seed typically consists of seed coat, cotyledon and an

embryo axis.

In some seeds such as black pepper and beet, remnants

of nucellus are persistent. This residual, persistent
nucellus is the perisperm.
Albuminous & Non - Albuminous seeds

Albuminous seeds are seeds which retain a part of

endosperm as it is not completely used up during embryo
development.
Eg: wheat, maize, barley, castor

Non albuminous seeds have no residual endosperm as it is

completely consumed during embryo development.
Eg : Pea, groundnut
"

Examples of Seed Dormancy

Lupinus arcticus excavated from Arctic Tundra. The seed

germinated and flowered after an estimated record of
10,000 years of dormancy.

A recent record of 2000 years old viable seed is of

the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera discovered during
the archeological excavation at King Herod’s palace
near the Dead Sea.
A

FRUIT home
In most plants, fruit develops from the ovary, other
floral parts degenerate and fall off.

The wall of the ovary develops into the wall of fruit

called pericarp
"

Most fruits develop only from the ovary and are called
X

True fruits.

In a few species such as apple, strawberry, cashew, etc

thalamus contributes to fruit formation.Such fruits are
called False fruits.
False Fruits
"

In most of the species, fruits are the results of fertilisation,

while a few species in which fruits develop without
fertilisation. Such fruits are called parthenocarpic fruits.
Eg : Banana

Parthenocarpy can induced through the application of

growth hormones and such fruits are seedless.
 Apomixis
&
Polyembryony
Apomixis
Apomixis
It is a modified form of reproduction,in which seeds are
formed without the fusion of gametes.
Eg: Species of Asteraceae and grasses.

The organism that can reproduce by apomixis is called an

apomict.

Apomixis is a form of asexual reproduction that mimics

sexual reproduction.
Significance of Apomixis

It helps in the production of hybrid seeds with desirable

characters

It produces seeds similar to the parent plants.

It helps in the preservation of superior characters over

generations

It helps in cost effective and time effecient production of

seeds
Polyembryony

Occurence of
than one
more
seed
.
Embryo in a

Eg : Citrus
,

Mango
.
ORGANISMS
&
POPULATION
SYNOPSIS

Populations
Population Growth Models
Population Interaction - Detrimental
Population Interaction - Beneficial
POPULATIONS
POPULATIONS

A population is a group of individuals of same species.

Eg: All the cormorants in a wetland teakwood trees in a forest

l

tract,bacteria in a culture plate.

#
#
Population
# Attributes (Characteristics)
Birth rate
It refer to per capita births.

Death rate
It refer to per capita deaths

Sex ratio
A population has a sex ratio.
$ Pyramid
Age

If the age distribution is plotted for the population,the

resulting structure is called an age pyramid.

The shape of the pyramids reflects the growth status of the

population- whether it is (a) growing (b)stable (c) declining.
Population density (N)
-

It is the number of individuals of a species per unit area

or volume.
Population growth
-

The four basic processes that fluctuate the population density are
(i) Natality (B)
(ii) Mortality (D)
(iii)Immigration(I)
(iv)Emigration (E)

Natality & immigration increase the population density and

Mortality & emigration decrease the population density.
If N is the population density at time t, then its density at time t
+1 is. Nt+1= Nt + [(B + I) – (D + E)]
Population Growth Models
Population growth models
-

IFBB

ygG@
▪
Exponential growth
Geometrical
When resources in the habitat are unlimited, then the population
grows in an exponential or geometric fashion.

The r in this equation is called the ‘intrinsic rate of natural

increase’and is a very important parameter chosen for assessing
impacts of any biotic or abiotic factor on population growth.
 Logistic growth
In nature, a given habitat has enough resources to support a
maximum possible number, beyond which no further growth is possible.
It is called carrying capacity (K).

This type of population growth is called Verhulst–PearlLogistic

Growth. It is described by following equation

N = Population density at time t

r = Intrinsic rate of natural increase
K = Carrying capacity
t = time
POPULATION INTERACTIONS
Interspecific interactions

Intraspecific interactions
 &

Population Interactions
Interspecific interactions arise from the interaction of populations
of two different species. They include
Mutualism
Competition
Parasitism
Predation
Commensalism
Amensalism
DETRIMENTAL
Competition : Both the species are harmed (-).

Parasitism : One species (parasite) is benefitted and other species

(host) is harmed
Predation : One species (predator) is benefitted and other species
(prey) is harmed.

Amensalism : One species is harmed and the other is interacting

species live closely together.
Importance
▪
▪ of predators

Predation is nature’s way of transferring to higher trophic

levels the energy fixed by plants.

Predators keep prey populations under control.

Predators maintain species diversity in a community.

Predation

This ability of the predator to regulate prey population is

called Biological control.
Predators maintain species diversity in a community.
Predators in nature are ‘prudent’.
For plants, herbivores are the predators.About 25 per cent of all
insects are known to be phytophagous ie; feeding on plant sap and
other parts of plants.
 Defences of prey species

Some insects & frogs are camouflaged (cryptically-coloured) to

avoid being detected by the predator.

Thorns (Acacia, Cactus etc) are the most common morphological

means of defence of plants.
Nicotine, caffeine,quinine, strychnine,opium, etc. are defences
against grazers and browsers.

qq.M.mn
 ▪

Interspecific competition is a potent force in organic

evolution.
Competitive release

A species restricted to a small geographical area due to the

presence of competitively superior species, expands its
distributional range when the competing species is experimentally
removed.
Gause’s ‘Competitive Exclusion Principle’

It states that two closely related species competing for the

same resources cannot co-exist indefinitely and the
competitively inferior one will be eliminated eventually.
Resource Partitioning

If two species compete for the same resource, they could

avoid competition by choosing different times for feeding or
different foraging patterns.
 ▪

Adaptations of parasites

Loss of sense organs

Presenceof adhesive organs or suckers to cling on to the host.
Loss of digestive system
High reproductive capacity
 Types of parasites

(i) Ectoparasites: Parasites that feed on the external surface

of the host organism.
E.g. lice on humans and ticks on dogs.
(ii) Endoparasites: Parasites that live inside the host body at
different sites.(liver, kidney, lungs, RBC etc).
 Brood parasitism in birds

In this kind of parasitism,the parasitic birds lay eggs in the nest

of its host and lets the host incubate them.
E.g. Brood parasitism between cuckoo and crow.
POPULATION INTERACTIONS - BENEFICIAL
Mutualism: Both the species are benefitted(+)

Commensalism One species is benefitted and the other is neither

benefitted nor harmed (0)

Commensalism

This is the interaction in which one species benefits and

the other is neither harmed nor benefited.
Mutualism

This interaction confers benefits on both the interacting species.

Mutualism between plant & animal through pollination and
seed dispersion:
Examples:
(i) Fig trees & wasps.
(ii) Lichens
Algar + fungi
Roots
fungi
(iii) Mycorhhiza +

of
higher plants
-
(iii) ‘Sexual deceit’ of Ophrys
ECOSYSTEM
Synopsis
Types of Ecosystem

Structure of Ecosystem

Functions of Ecosystem

Ecological Pyramids
TYPES OF ECOSYSTEM

Ecosystem

*
Man-made ecosystem
✓

Natural ecosystem
Eg: Cropland, Aquarium
,

Terrestrial ecosystem
,

Aquatic ecosystem
Land ecosystem
✓ ✓ Eg: Forest, Desert, Grassland
Marine Ecosystem Fresh water \

ecosystem
,

Eg: Sea,Oceans
River, Lake, Pond, Pool
 #
COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEM

Abiotic Components

Biotic Components

The abiotic components includes Temperature, water,Light, Soil

and other climatic conditions.

The biotic components include Producers,Consumers and

Decomposers etc.
STRUCTURE OF ECOSYSTEM

Habitat

Species composition

Stratification

Trophic levels

Standing crop and standing state

SPECIES COMPOSITION

Identification and enumeration of plant and animal species

of an ecosystem forms the species composition.
STRATIFICATION

Vertical distribution of different species occupying different

levels is called stratification.
TROPHIC LEVELS

Based on nutrition or food, organisms occupy a

specific place in the food chain known as Trophic
level.
STANDING CROP AND STANDING STATE

Each trophic level has a certain mass of living material at a

particular time called as the standing crop.
FUNCTIONS OF AN ECOSYSTEM
-

Productivity

Decomposition

Energy flow

Nutrient cycling
#PRODUCTIVITY

The rate of biomass production is called productivity.

It is expressed in terms of gm⁻²yr⁻¹ or kcal m⁻²yr⁻¹.
Primary productivity can be divided into gross primary
productivity (GPP) and net primary productivity (NPP).
#

Gross primary productivity minus respiration losses (R),is the

net primary productivity (NPP).
 #
Factors affecting Productivity

#
It depends on the plant species inhabiting a particular area.

It depends on environmental factors, such as availability of

nutrients and photosynthetic capacity of plants.
The annual net primary productivity of the whole biosphere is
approximately 170 billion tons(dry weight) of organic matter.

Of this, 70 percent is on the surface, the productivity of the

oceans are only 55 billion tons. Rest is on land.

 (
DECOMPOSITION

It is the breakdown of complex organic matter into

simpler inorganic substances like carbondioxide, water
and nutrients.
The important steps in the process of decomposition are

Fragmentation

Leaching

Catabolism

Humification

Mineralisation
(
(
Detritivores(e.g., earthworm) break down detritus into
smaller particles.This process is called fragmentation.

In the process of leaching, water soluble inorganic nutrients go

down into the soil horizon and get precipitated as unavailable
salts.

Bacterial and fungal enzymes degrade detritus into simpler

inorganic substances. This process is called as catabolism.
Humification leads to accumulation of a dark coloured amorphous
substance
! called humus that is highly resistant to microbial action
and undergoes decomposition at an extremely slow rate.

The humus is further degraded by some microbes and release

inorganic nutrients by the process known as mineralisation.
Factors affecting Decomposition

Decomposition is largely an oxygen requiring process.

The rate of decomposition is controlled by chemical composition

of detritus and climatic factors.

In a particular climatic condition, decomposition rate is slower if

detritus is rich in lignin and chitin, and faster, if detritus is rich in
nitrogen and water soluble substances like sugars.
!

ENERGY FLOW

Of the incident solar radiation, less than 50 per cent of it is the

photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).

Plantscapture only 2−10 per cent of the PAR and this small amount
of energy sustains the entire living world.

There is an unidirectional flow of energy from the sun to producers

and then to consumers.
FOOD CHAIN

The transfer of food from the producers through a series of

organisms with repeated eating and being eaten is referred to as
the food chain.
!

FOOD CHAIN

Food Chains are of Two types

Grazing Food Chain

Detritus Food Chain

Grazing Food Chain [GFC]
!
Detritus Food Chain [DFC]

It is a type of food chain which starts with dead organic matter

and passes through detritivores and finally to organisms feeding
on detritivores.

In an aquatic ecosystem, GFC is the major conduit for energy flow.

In a terrestrial ecosystem, larger fraction of energyflows through

the detritus food chain than through the GFC.
FOOD WEB
!

Many Food chains are interconnected or interlocked with each

other to form a network called Food Web or Food Net.
The number of trophic levels in the grazing food chain is
restricted as the transfer of energy follows 10 per cent
law
– Only 10 per cent of the energy is transferred to each
trophic level from the lower trophic level.
ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

The graphical representation of the successive trophic levels of

an ecosystem in the form of a pyramid is called Ecological
pyramid or Food Pyramid.
!

Ecological pyramids are of three types

(a) Pyramid of number
(b) Pyramid of biomass
(c) Pyramid of energy
Pyramid of numbers
Pyramid of Biomass
Inverted Pyramid of Biomass
Pyramid of Energy
 "

.
▪
▪

Limitations of ecological pyramids

It does not take into account the same species belonging to two
or more trophic levels.
It assumes a simple food chain.
It does not accommodate a food web.
Saprophytes are not given any place in ecological pyramids