Chapter 30 PLANT DIVERSITY II.

THE EVOLUTION OF SEED PLANTS

OVERVIEW OF SEED PLANT EVOLUTION
The most important reproductive adaptations of seed plants are:
1. Continued reduction of the gametophyte
2. Evolution of the seed.
3. Evolution of the pollen.
The reduced gametophyte can develop from spores retained within the sporangia of the
parental sporophyte.
Retaining the female gametophyte within the sporangium protects it from environmental
stresses.
The gametophyte otains food from the sporophyte.
!ll seed plants have two different "inds of spores. They are heterosporous.
1. Megasporangu! produces !egaspores# which produces "e!a#e ga!etoph$tes.
2. M%rosporangu! produces !%rospores# which produces !a#e ga!etoph$tes.
$n seed plants# the megaspores and the female gametophyte are retained on the parent
sporophyte.
%ayers of sporophyte tissue envelop the megasporangium. These tissues are called
ntegu!ents.
The megasporangium# megaspore and integuments are called the o&u#e.
The female gametophyte develops inside the megaspore and produces one or more egg cells.
Megasporangu! & !egaspores ' "e!a#e ga!etoph$tes ' egg %e##.
M%rosporangu! & !%rospores & !a#e ga!etoph$tes (po##en) & sper!s.
'ollen does not need a li(uid for fertili)ation.
Po##naton is the transfer of pollen to ovules. *ind and animals carry out pollination.
'ollen grains are well protected y sporopo##enn.
+poropollenin contains only caron# hydrogen and o,ygen- it is an isoprene polymer.
The seed is a sporophyte emryo pac"aged along with a food supply within a protective coat.
+eeds can e very resistant and can e dispersed widely y animals and wind.
SEED SPORE
1. .ulticellular emryo +ingle cell
2. /ood supplied y tissue /ood only in the cell
3. .ulticellular seed coat Covering not cellular
0. 1iploid sporophyte 2aploid cell
3. 'roduct of fertili)ation 'roduct of meiosis
There are two groups of seed producing plants# g$!nosper!s and angosper!s.
'roduce seeds.
4ascular tissue: *$#e! for water and mineral transport and ph#oe! for dissolved
sugars.
5ametophyte is much reduced and totally dependent on the sporophyte.
2eterosporous: microspores and megaspores.
+YMNOSPERMS
There are aout 620 species found in all terrestrial haitats grouped into four divisions 7phyla8.
They have great economic importance: lumer# paper# and chemicals.
9y the late 1evonian period 7:363 million years ago8 some plants had egun to ac(uire some
adaptations that characteri)e seed plants.
The first fossils of seed earing plants appeared in the Caroniferous# some 3;0 million years
ago.
The 'ermian was warmer and drier and the gymnosperm egan to diversify ecause they were
etter adapted than %ycopods to this type of climate.
5ymnosperms dominated the landscape during the .eso)oic era# which egan aout 230
million years ago.
The .eso)oic ended ;3 million years ago and the Ceno)oic egan. ! great e,tinction too"
place at the end of the .eso)oic# which included the elimination of the dinosaurs.
The Ceno)oic is dominated y flowering plants ut gymnosperms remain an important
component of the flora.
,HARA,TERISTI,S OF +YMNOSPERMS
1. *oody trees and shrus.
2. +eeds are orne# e,posed# in cones 7megastroilus8.
3. 'ollinated y wind# seldom y insects.
0. +ingle fertili)ation: sperm < egg emryo.
3. .ost are !onoe%ous: male and female organs on the same individual.
There are four phyla studied in this te,too":
5in"gophyta# Cycadophyta# 5netophyta# Coniferophyta
See the Life Cycle of a pine on page 597
AN+IOSPERMS
There are aout 233#000 species of flowering plants.
This is the dominant group in terrestrial haitats. =ur survival depends on them.
/ood# medicine# lumer# etc.
There are two groups of angiosperms: !ono%ots and -%ots.
/irst appeared in the Cretaceous aout 130 million years ago.
I. ,HARA,TERISTI,S
1. *oody or heraceous.
2. 'roduce flowers.
3. 'ollinated y wind or animals.
0. 1oule fertili)ation: egg < sperm emryo and 2 polar nuclei < sperm endosperm.
3. +eeds enclosed in a fruit.
II. THE FLOWER
The flower is a reproductive shoot or ranch.
$t has four parts arranged in whorls or circles on a stal" or peduncle.
The parts of the flower are the sepa#s 7caly,8# peta#s 7corolla8# sta!ens and %arpe#s.
+tamens consist of a filament and an anther.
Carpels are also referred to as pst#s. They consist of an ovary# a style and a
stigma.
/lowers may e orne singly or in clusters called n"#ores%en%e.
/lower parts are considered modified leaves.
III. DOU.LE FERTILI/ATION.
$t is characteristic of flowering plants.
1oule fertili)ation results in the formation of a -p#o- 0$gote and a trp#o- en-osper!.
The female ga!etoph$te or e!1r$o sa% has an egg nucleus and two polar nuclei.
=ne sperm fertili)es the egg nucleus and forms the )ygote# 2n.
!nother sperm >oins the two polar nuclei forming the triploid 73n8 nutritive tissue called the
endosperm.
IV. FRUIT ,LASSIFI,ATION.
! fruit is a mature ovary.
A%%essor$ "ruts include other parts in addition to the ovaries# e.g. strawerry# apple# and pear.
S!p#e "ruts develop from a single carpel or several united carpels.
Aggregate "ruts are produced from separate carpels in one gynoecium# e.g. lac"erries#
magnolia.
The individual parts of the aggregate fruit are "nown as fruitlets.
Mu#tp#e "ruts consist of several female structures and accessory flower parts that ecome
fused into one fruit# e.g. pineapple# =sage orange.
See the angiosperm life cycle on page 600.
V. EVOLUTION OF AN+IOSPERMS
!ngiosperms evolved some 103 million years ago during the early Cretaceous 7.eso)oic8 or
possily in the late ?urassic.
!ngiosperm egan to dominate the landscape at the end of the .eso)oic and they form now
the dominant plant form.
There are different opinions aout the origin of the angiosperms and their flower.
.=@=C=T+ have floral parts in multiples of three and the seed contains one cotyledon. The
endosperm provides the food for the emryo. 4enation is usually parallel 7there are e,ceptions8.
Their vascular undles are scattered throughout the ground tissue. The root system is firous.
1$C=T+ have floral parts in multiples of four or five# and their seeds contain two cotyledons.
The cotyledons usually asor the food from the endosperm first# and then provide the food for
the emryo. 4enation is netted. The vascular undles in the stem crossAsection are arranged in
circles 7rings8. They usually have a taproot system for at leas part of their life. Ths s not a
!onoph$#et% group.
Current research supports the hypothesis that monocots are monophyletic and form a single
clade.
The dicots# however# appear to e a polyphyletic grouping. .ost of the dicots elong to the
eu-%ots.
Three lineages of the remaining dicots form what is called the 1asa# angosper!s ecause
they include what are considered to e the oldest lineages.
!nother group is called the !agno#-s.
VI. ,OEVOLUTION OF FLOWERIN+ PLANTS AND ANIMALS.
,oe&o#uton is the process y which two or more species act as selective forces on one
another and each undergoes evolutionary change.
The earliest seedAearing plants were pollinated.
'ollen ecame a source of food for insects and those flowers that could etter attract insects
were visited more often thus increasing the chances of passing those characters to the ne,t
generation.
!ny mutation that made those visits more fre(uent offered a selective advantage.
9ise,ual flowers have the advantage that visiting insects can pic" up pollen from the anthers
and deliver pollen from a neighoring plant at the same time.
$n the early part of the Tertiary# 00 A ;0 million years ago# speciali)ed groups of flowerAvisiting
insects ecame more diverse.
VII. Hu!an 2e#"are
.ost of our food comes from angiosperms.
+i, crops produce B0C of the calories consumed y humans:
A *heat# rice# mai)e# potatoes# cassava and sweet potatoes.
=ur food crops are derived from wild ancestors that have een domesticated very much li"e we
have domesticated animals.
A The domestic dog is derived from the wild wolf.
.any of our medicines are derived from plants or ased on plant natural products.
2aitat destruction is the iggest threat to plant e,tinction.