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A gametangium (pl.: gametangia) is a sex organ or cell in which gametes are produced that is found in many multicellular protists, algae, fungi, and the gametophytes of plants. In contrast to gametogenesis in animals , a gametangium is a haploid structure and formation of gametes does not involve meiosis .
Female gametophytes of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. Gametophores are prominent structures in seedless plants on which the reproductive organs are borne. [citation needed] [1] The word gametophore (more accurately gametangiophore) is composed of the greek ‘gamete-,’ referring (loosely) to gametangia [citation needed] and ‘-phore’ (Greek Φορά, "to be carried"). [2]
The result is a multi-cellular haploid organism, called the gametophyte (because it produces gametes at maturity). [17] When it reaches maturity, the gametophyte produces one or more gametangia (singular: gametangium) which are the organs that produce haploid gametes. At least one kind of gamete possesses some mechanism for reaching another ...
[1] [2] Both monoicous (/ m ɒ ˈ n oʊ ə k ə s /) [3] and dioicous gametophytes produce gametes in gametangia by mitosis rather than meiosis, so that sperm and eggs are genetically identical with their parent gametophyte. It has been suggested that monoicy may have benefits in dry habitats where the ability to produce sporophytes is limited ...
The female gametangia are called archegoniophores, they have a taller stem and an umbrella-like structure at the top, approximately 1 cm (0.39 in) wide, from which the common name is derived. They also reproduce asexually via gemma cups which form on the surface of the thallus, they are approx. 4 mm (0.16 in) wide and 3 mm (0.12 in) high. [ 2 ]
The gametophyte is the first and dominant phase of two alternating phases in a bryophyte's life cycle. This part of the life cycle consists of protonema (the preliminary stage where the propagule develops green thread-like filaments), the rhizoids (filaments growing beneath the bryophyte that help anchor the bryophyte to its substratum), the stem, the leaves, its reproductive structure ...
A tiny gametophyte develops inside the wall of a microspore, producing a pollen grain. Pollen grains can be physically transferred between plants by the wind or animals, most commonly insects . Pollen grains can also transfer to an ovule of the same plant, either with the same flower or between two flowers of the same plant ( self-fertilization ).
Coleochaete has a sterile jacket of cells that surround the gametangia and zygotes that are protected by a layer of sterile cells after fertilization. However, unlike land plants, Coleochaete has zygotic meiosis, meiosis taking place directly in the zygote and not in diploid cells resulting from mitotic division of the zygote. [4]