Land Plants Flashcards
Monophyletic Group
Definition
a group that contains an ancestral species and all of its descendants
Archaeplastida
Evolutionary History
- derived from primary endosymbiosis event
- diversification of marine photosynthesis for 1-2by
- c. 450mya move to land
Archaeplastida
- red algae
- green algae
- land plants
- glaucophytes
Origin of Land Plants
all extant land plants area thought to have a common origin from a common ancestor with charophycean green algae
evolution in water, tidal pools and ponds
since then, a vast diversity of land plants with distinct features have evolved
Key Features of All Land Plants
- alternation of generations
- roots/leaves/flowers
Alternation of Generations
- plants have a complex life cycle involving the alternation of multicellular haploid and diploid forms
- there are variations in the dominance of the gametophyte (haploid) and sporophyte (diploid) forms
Heteromorphic
Definition
gametophyte and sporophyte look structurally different
Isomorphic
Definition
gametophyte and sporophyte look structurally similar
Types of Life Cycle
- asexual
- sexual (3) - involve the fusion of gametes at some stage
What are the three types of sexual life cycle?
1) Meiosis, orgaism is diploid but produces haploid gametes that fuse
2) Alternation of generations, both haploid and diploid organisms in cycle
3) Zygote undergoes mitosis, zygote is the only diploid cell, all other cells in the organisms are haploid
Similarities Between Land Plants and Algae
-eukaryotic
-multicellular
-cell walls contain cellulose
-chloroplasts with chlorophyll A and B
-
Similarities Between Land Plants and Charophytes
- cellulose synthase complexes arranged in complex rosettes
- peroxisome enzymes that minimise photorespiration (loss of H2O)
- structure of flagellated sperm
- cytokinesis
- nuclear and chloroplast genomes
The Transition to Land - Problems
- for the first 3by the terrestrial surface was lifeless
- at the time of colonisation the land was hostile; bare rock, no soil, no shade
- availability and uptake of water and nutrients
- variation in climate
- lack of physical support
Advantages of the Transition to Land
- unfiltered sun
- more carbon dioxide
- nutrient rich rocks and soil
- few herbivores / pathogens
What did plants need to transition to land?
- desiccation tolerance: formation of waxy cuticle layer with stomata
- water uptake mechanism: first plants lacked true roots/leaves so formed symbiotic associations with mycorrhizae
- structural support: cell walls thickened and lignin (a tough polymer) was used
Xerophytes
-plants that have adapted to survive in dry environments
Xerophytes
Strategies for Survival
- timing of life cycle:
- flowering restricted to short periods
- reduced water loss:
- stomatal closure
- sunken stomata
- hairs to trap water
- thick cuticle
- water storage
Cooksonia
- now extinct group of very early land plants
- first to show apical dichotomous branching
- terminal sporangia
- maximises offspring from single fertilisation
- tallest plant at time~5cm
- evidence of stomata
Devonian Vegetation at Rhine
- rich source of fossils
- volcanic deposits c. 375mya
- fossils of reed like vegetation
- preserved in minute detail
- <30cm
- horizontal and vertical stems
- dichotomous branching
- microphylls and rhizoids instead of tru roots and leaves
- terminal sporangia on aerial stems
Non - Vascular Plants
- Byrophytes
- lack of complex vasculature, some have primitive conductive tissues
- small
- rely on capillary movement and diffusion of water
- rhizoids, no true roots
- microphylls, small ‘leaves’
- usually dioecious (male and female plants)
- ground hugging due to absence of cell wall strengthening lignin
- movement of sperm/fertilisation requires moisture
- gametophyte is dominant
- sporophyte is parasitic on the gametophyte
Mosses - Gametophyte
- haploid
- dominant vegetative plant
- independent
- bears gametes
- union of gametes
- sexual reproduction
- host of sporophyte
Mosses - Sporophyte
- diploid
- seta (stalk) & capsule
- dependent on gametophyte
- bears spores
- meiosis
- multiplication
- dispersal
Bryophytes
Mosses
Liverworts
Hornworts
Liverworts
- c. 9000 species
- simple thalllus
- more leafy
- dominant gametophyte
- reduced sporophyte
- complex gamete bearing structures
- some reproduce asexually
Hornworts
- c. 100 species
- gametophyte thallus
- sporophyte has two ‘horns’
- single large chloroplast per cell
- symbiotic with nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria
Seedless Vascular Plants
- first to grow tall
- complex vasculature
- dominant sporophyte independent of the gametophyte
- much reduced gametophyte, a prothallus
- leaves and roots
- mostly homosporous
Homosporous
plants that produce 1 type of spore that develops into a bisexual gamete
Heterosporous
plants that produce 2 types of spores, megaspores that become female gametotypes and microspores that become male gametotypes
Vascular Tissue
Xylem - water conducting cells strengthened by lignin, also provides strong structural support for plant to grow taller
Phloem - living cells that distribute sugars, amino acids and other organic products