Lecture 3 An introduction to the plant kingdom

Question 1

List the 5 principal groups recognized by biologists

Answer 1

• Monerans (bacteria)
• Protists
• Fung
• Plants
• Animals

Question 2

Roughly how many plant species are there?

Answer 2

Hundreds/thousands of plant species

Question 3

What are the plant species divided into?

Answer 3

Its main divisions are ordered into hierarchies of lower groupings (taxa)

Question 4

How are the plant species divided into taxa

Answer 4

–reflect the biological relatedness of their members

–primarily assessed on the basis of shared characteristics that have been inherited from a common ancestor

Question 5

What other factors are used to classify plants?

Answer 5

• According to the communities in which they naturally occur–Climate, geology & soil
• Global plant communities–Biomes, e.g. taiga, tundra, savannah
• Phytosociological communities–UK - National Vegetation Classification (NVC)
• Horticultural communities –Habitat, biome or botanical grouping – alpines, aquatics, climbers

Question 6

What are the different ranks in plant classification hierarchy?

Answer 6

Division
Class
Order
Family
Genus 
Species

Question 7

What are the features used in differentiating the major groups of plants containing chlorophyll?

Answer 7

Level of cellular organisation

• Photosynthetic pigments
• Other characters: cell wall structure, food storage compounds & types of flagella

Question 8

What are the levels of cellular organisation for Prokaryotic?

Answer 8

No membrane-bound organelles

Division Cyanophyta or Cyanobacteria

Question 9

What are the levels of cellular organisation for Eukaryotic?

Answer 9

Membrane-bound nuclei, chloroplasts & mitochondria

ALL other divisions

Question 10

What is included in Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic filamentous algae?

Answer 10

Nostocis a bluegreen alga (Cyanophyta or Cyanobacteria)

• Cells show little internal differentiation, even under the electron microscope
• Protoplast is differentiated into nucleus & cytoplasm;
• Large central cell sap vacuole.
• Spirogyrais a green alga (Chlorophyta); the cell includes a large spiral -shaped chloroplast
• The nucleus is suspended in the middle of the cell on strands of cytoplasm

Question 11

What are the 3 classes of pigments

Answer 11

Chlorophylls

Carotenoids

Biliproteins/Phycobilins

Question 12

What are the types and colour of Chlorophylls?

Answer 12

A, b, c, d

Green

Question 13

What are the types and colours of Carotenoids?

Answer 13

Carotenes Orange

Xanthophylls Yellow

Question 14

What are the types and colours of Biliproteins/phycobilins?

Answer 14

Phycoerythrin Red

Phycocyanin Blue

Question 15

What are the featured used in differentiating the major groups?

Answer 15

Cellulose cell walls are commonest,

• also naked-celled plants
• & plants with walls constructed of silica
• Many groups store glucose polymers quite distinct from starch
• Motile cells can have whiplash flagella, flimmerflagella, or combinations of the two

Question 16

What are the different Divisions of plants containing chlorophyll?

Answer 16

CYANOPHYTA

• PYRROPHYTA
• BACILLARIOPHYTA

PHAEOPHYTA

• RHODOPHYTA
• CHLOROPHYTA

Question 17

What are the features of Chlorophyta

Answer 17

Eukaryotic cell structure

• Unicells, simple & complex filaments, simple thalli
• Cellulose cell walls
• Motile cells with 2 or more whiplash flagella
• Chloroplasts with chlorophyll a + b
• Chlorophyll dominant, chloroplasts green
• Mainly freshwater, some terrestrial

Question 18

What are the differences between Bryophyta and Tracheophyta in terms of structure?

Answer 18

BRYOPHYTA:
Mosses, liverworts & hornworts

• No xylem or phloem
• Vegetative plant haploid

TRACHEOPHYTA
•Vascular plants

• Xylem & phloem present
• Vegetative plant diploid

Question 19

Give examples of Bryophyta

Answer 19

• Mosses (Musci)

* Liverworts (Hepaticae)

Question 20

Outline the main factors of Byrophyta

Answer 20

Lack vascular tissue

Have no woody parts (2ndry thickening)–Don’t grow to a great size

•Need water to complete their life cycle–typically found in moist habitats

Question 21

Outline the main features of Hepaticae liverworts

Answer 21

• Typically flat membranous plants with lobed margins–Plant body is a thallus (thalloid)
• There are some leafy spp.

Question 22

What are the 4 sub-Divisions of Tracheophyta?

Answer 22

Psilopsida

Lycopsida

Sphenopsida

Pteropsida

Question 23

What are the Classes and sub-classes of Pteropsida?

Answer 23

Class: Filicinae

Class: Gymnospermae

Class: Angiospermae

Sub-class: Dicotyledonae (Dicots)

Sub-class: Monocotyledonae (Monocots)

Question 24

What parts of the Tracheophyta division reproduce by spores?

Answer 24

Psilopsida

LycopsidaSub-

Sphenopsida

Pteropsida

Filicinae

Question 25

What parts of the Tracheophyta division reproduce by seeds?

Answer 25

Gymnospermae Angiospermae

Question 26

What type of plants are Psilopsida?

Answer 26

Stem plants

Question 27

Outline the main features of Psiopsida

Answer 27

Whisk ferns * Comprise 2 genera–very few species * Least complex of all terrestrial vascular plants – no leaves or roots

Question 28

Outline the main features of Lycopsida - Club mosses

Answer 28

Club-shaped spore-bearing structures * Inconspicuous vascular plants * Have small simple leaves * Around 1000 living species

Question 29

Outline the main features of Sphenopsida- Horsetails

Answer 29

Dominated the world 350 million years ago * Today only 40 species survive * All in genus Equisetum

Question 30

Outline the main features of Filicales- ferns

Answer 30

Vascular plants that reproduce by spores * Around 12,000 spp. worldwide * Largest are tropical tree ferns <30m

Question 31

Outline the main features of Gymnospermae

Answer 31

Have naked seeds (has no carpel) * Cycadophytes – cycads–Small trees, 100 living spp., native to tropics/sub-tropics * Coniferophytes – conifers–common worldwide, dominate the forests of temperate north–550 living spp, Sequoias * Gnetales – just 3 genera, 100 different spp. all native to deserts * Ginkgoales – Ginkgoesonce diverse, but only 1 surviving member

Question 32

Outline the main features of Angiospermae- Dicotyledons

Answer 32

* Largest class of flowering plants | * Seedlings have 2 seed leaves

Question 33

Outline the main features of Angiospermae- Monocotyledons

Answer 33

•Young seedlings only have one seed leaf