What is produced by the sporophyte stage?
In the sporophyte phase a diploid (having two sets of chromosomes) plant body grows and eventually produces spores through meiosis. These spores divide mitotically to produce haploid (having a single set of chromosomes) gamete-producing bodies called gametophytes.
What is the sporophyte of a fern?
Plants we see as ferns or horsetails are the sporophyte generation. The sporophyte generally releases spores in the summer. Spores must land on a suitable surface, such as a moist protected area to germinate and grow into gametophytes.
What can be found on a fern sporophyte?
spores
The typical fern, a sporophyte, consists of stem, leaf, and root; it produces spores; and its cells each have two sets of chromosomes, one set from the egg and one from the sperm.
What is produced by the gametophyte and sporophyte stage?
Plants have two distinct stages in their lifecycle: the gametophyte stage and the sporophyte stage. The haploid gametophyte produces the male and female gametes by mitosis in distinct multicellular structures. Fusion of the male and females gametes forms the diploid zygote, which develops into the sporophyte.
Are the spores produced by the fern sporophyte formed by meiosis or mitosis?
Unlike some other non-flowering vascular plants, ferns produce one type of spore (homosporous) via meiosis in the sac-like sporangia. Within each sporangium, the diploid spores (spore mother cells or sporocytes) undergo meiosis.
Are fern gametophyte dependent on sporophyte?
The gametophyte structure of ferns is a heart-shaped plant called a prothallium. In seed-bearing vascular plants, such as angiosperms and gymnosperms, the gametophyte is totally dependent on the sporophyte for development. Gametophytes in angiosperms and gymnosperms are pollen grains and ovules.
Which stages in the life cycle of a fern constitute the sporophyte generation?
The life cycle of the fern has two different stages; sporophyte, which releases spores, and gametophyte, which releases gametes. Gametophyte plants are haploid, sporophyte plants diploid.
What process produces the spores of a fern?
Meiosis is a type of cell division that produces gametes – cells that contain half the number of chromosomes than the parent cell. In ferns, these cells are the spores.
Are ferns gametophyte or sporophyte dominant?
In the most primitive plants, like mosses, the gametophyte is dominant (i.e. it’s big and green). In higher plants like ferns and fern allies, the sporophyte stage is dominant.
Where are fern spores produced?
The fern life cycle Mature plants produce spores on the underside of the leaves. When these germinate they grow into small heart-shaped plants known as prothalli. Male and female cells are produced on these plants and after fertilisation occurs the adult fern begins to develop.
Where is fern sporophyte?
Most fern sporophytes in temperate North America are green and terrestrial. As the sporophyte continues to grow, it eventually develops numerous structures with spores inside, referred to as sporangia. The sporangia form on the underside of fronds or on specialized fertile fronds, depending on the species.
Why is sporophyte dominant in the next generation of ferns?
Advantage of a dominant sporophyte was fertilization and dispersal of new/next generation timed with environmental conditions. Pollen grains in seed bearing plants contain spores that when mature become the male gametophyte. Gametophyte stage dominant and don’t get nutrients from the sporophyte. What is the dominant generation of ferns?
What are the stages of the life cycle of a fern?
The life cycle of the fern has two different stages; sporophyte, which releases spores, and gametophyte, which releases gametes.
When do spores develop in the sporophyte stage?
To clearly understand the plant’s life cycle, sporophyte is the phase when plants produce diploid (2n) spores, which in turn [spores] develop into gametophytes. During the gametophyte stage, haploid (n) gametes or reproductive cells such as sperm and eggs are developed.
How big is the first generation of a fern?
Two Generations of the Fern Life Cycle. The first is the gametophyte stage when it is almost invisible to the human eye, being only about .4 inches across (1 cm). The second stage or generation is the sporophyte stage, in which it develops into what we recognize as the typical fern.