Chapter 30

Plant Diversity II: The

Evolution of Seed Plants

PowerPoint Lectures for

Biology, Seventh Edition
Neil Campbell and Jane Reece

Lectures by Chris Romero

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 • Overview: Feeding the World
• Seeds changed the course of plant evolution
– Enabling their bearers to become the dominant
producers in most terrestrial ecosystems

Figure 30.1
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 • Concept 30.1: The reduced gametophytes of
seed plants are protected in ovules and pollen
grains
• In addition to seeds, the following are common
to all seed plants
– Reduced gametophytes
– Heterospory
– Ovules
– Pollen
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 Advantages of Reduced Gametophytes
• The gametophytes of seed plants
– Develop within the walls of spores retained
within tissues of the parent sporophyte

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 • Gametophyte/sporophyte relationships
Sporophyte
Sporophyte
(2n)
(2n)

Gametophyte Gametophyte
(n) (n)

(a) Sporophyte dependent (b) Large sporophyte and

on gametophyte small, independent
(mosses and other gametophyte (ferns
bryophytes). and other seedless
vascular plants).
Microscopic female
gametophytes (n) in
ovulate cones Microscopic
(dependent) female
Microscopic male gametophytes (n)
gametophytes (n) inside these parts
inside these parts of flowers
of flowers (dependent)
(dependent)

Microscopic male
gametophytes (n)
in pollen cones Sporophyte (2n),
(dependent) Sporophyte (2n) the flowering plant
(independent) (independent)

(c) Reduced gametophyte dependent on sporophyte

Figure 30.2a–c (seed plants: gymnosperms and angiosperms).

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 Heterospory: The Rule Among Seed Plants
• Seed plants evolved from plants that had
megasporangia
– Which produce megaspores that give rise to
female gametophytes

• Seed plants evolved from plants that had

microsporangia
– Which produce microspores that give rise to
male gametophytes

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 Ovules and Production of Eggs
• An ovule consists of
– A megasporangium, megaspore, and
protective integuments

Integument

Spore wall

Megasporangium
(2n)

Megaspore (n)

(a) Unfertilized ovule. In this sectional

view through the ovule of a pine (a
gymnosperm), a fleshy
megasporangium is surrounded by a
protective layer of tissue called an
Figure 30.3a integument. (Angiosperms have two
integuments.)

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 Pollen and Production of Sperm
• Microspores develop into pollen grains
– Which contain the male gametophytes of
plants

• Pollination
– Is the transfer of pollen to the part of a seed
plant containing the ovules

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 • If a pollen grain germinates
– It gives rise to a pollen tube that discharges two
sperm into the female gametophyte within the
ovule
Female
gametophyte (n)

Egg nucleus (n)

Spore wall

Male gametophyte
Discharged
(within germinating
sperm nucleus (n)
pollen grain) (n)

Micropyle Pollen grain (n)

(b) Fertilized ovule. A megaspore develops into a

multicellular female gametophyte. The micropyle,
the only opening through the integument, allows
entry of a pollen grain. The pollen grain contains a
male gametophyte, which develops a pollen tube
that discharges sperm.
Figure 30.3b
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 • Pollen, which can be dispersed by air or
animals
– Eliminated the water requirement for
fertilization

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 The Evolutionary Advantage of Seeds
• A seed
– Develops from the whole ovule
– Is a sporophyte embryo, along with its food
supply, packaged in a protective coat
Seed coat
(derived from
Integument)

Food supply
(female
gametophyte
tissue) (n)

Embryo (2n)
(new sporophyte)

(c) Gymnosperm seed. Fertilization initiates

the transformation of the ovule into a seed,
which consists of a sporophyte embryo, a
food supply, and a protective seed coat
Figure 30.3c derived from the integument.

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 • Concept 30.2: Gymnosperms bear “naked”
seeds, typically on cones
• Among the gymnosperms are many well-
known conifers
– Or cone-bearing trees, including pine, fir, and
redwood

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 • The gymnosperms include four plant phyla
– Cycadophyta
– Gingkophyta
– Gnetophyta
– Coniferophyta

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 • Exploring Gymnosperm Diversity

PHYLUM CYCADOPHYTA PHYLUM GINKGOPHYTA

Cycas revoluta

PHYLUM GNETOPHYTA
Gnetum

Welwitschia

Ovulate cones
Ephedra

Figure 30.4
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 • Exploring Gymnosperm Diversity
PHYLUM CYCADOPHYTA

Douglas fir

Common juniper

Pacific Wollemia pine

yew

Bristlecone pine Sequoia

Figure 30.4
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 Gymnosperm Evolution
• Fossil evidence reveals that by the late Devonian
– Some plants, called progymnosperms, had begun
to acquire some adaptations that characterize
seed plants

Figure 30.5
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 • Gymnosperms appear early in the fossil record
– And dominated the Mesozoic terrestrial
ecosystems

• Living seed plants

– Can be divided into two groups: gymnosperms
and angiosperms

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 A Closer Look at the Life Cycle of a Pine
• Key features of the gymnosperm life cycle
include
– Dominance of the sporophyte generation, the
pine tree
– The development of seeds from fertilized
ovules
– The role of pollen in transferring sperm to
ovules

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 • The life cycle of a pine 2 An ovulate cone scale has two
ovules, each containing a mega-
sporangium. Only one ovule is shown.
1 In most Key
conifer species, Haploid (n)
each tree has Ovule Diploid (2n)
both ovulate
and pollen
cones.
Megasporocyte (2n) 4 A pollen grain
Ovulate
enters through
cone Integument the micropyle
Longitudinal and germinates,
section of Micropyle
forming a pollen
Pollen ovulate cone tube that slowly
cone digests
Microsporocytes Megasporangium through the
Mature Germinating megasporangium.
sporophyte (2n) pollen grain
Pollen
(2n) grains (n) MEIOSIS
(containing male
MEIOSIS gametophytes)
Longitudinal Surviving 5 While the
section of megaspore (n) pollen tube
Sporophyll
develops, the
pollen cone Microsporangium megasporocyte
3 A pollen cone contains many microsporangia (megaspore
Seedling held in sporophylls. Each microsporangium Germinating mother cell)
contains microsporocytes (microspore mother pollen grain undergoes meiosis,
cells). These undergo meiosis, giving rise to producing four
haploid microspores that develop into Archegonium haploid cells. One
pollen grains. Egg (n) Integument survives as a
Female megaspore.
Seeds on surface gametophyte
of ovulate scale
Germinating
pollen grain (n)
Food reserves Seed coat 6 The female gametophyte
(gametophyte (derived from develops within the megaspore
8 Fertilization usually occurs more Discharged
tissue) (n) parent and contains two or three
than a year after pollination. All eggs sperm nucleus (n)
may be fertilized, but usually only one sporophyte) (2n) archegonia, each with an egg.
zygote develops into an embryo. The Pollen
ovule becomes a seed, consisting of an tube
7 By the time the eggs are mature,
embryo, food supply, and seed coat. two sperm cells have developed in the
pollen tube, which extends to the
Embryo female gametophyte. Fertilization occurs
FERTILIZATION
(new sporophyte) Egg nucleus (n) when sperm and egg nuclei unite.
(2n)
Figure 30.6
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 • Concept 30.3: The reproductive adaptations of
angiosperms include flowers and fruits
• Angiosperms
– Are commonly known as flowering plants
– Are seed plants that produce the reproductive
structures called flowers and fruits
– Are the most widespread and diverse of all
plants

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 Characteristics of Angiosperms
• The key adaptations in the evolution of
angiosperms
– Are flowers and fruits

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 Flowers
• The flower
– Is an angiosperm structure specialized for
sexual reproduction

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 • A flower is a specialized shoot with modified
leaves
– Sepals, which enclose the flower
– Petals, which are brightly colored and attract
pollinators
– Stamens, which produce pollen
– Carpels, which produce ovules
Carpel
Stigma
Stamen Anther Style
Ovary
Filament

Petal

Sepal

Receptacle
Figure 30.7 Ovule

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 Fruits
• Fruits
– Typically consist of a mature ovary
(a) Tomato, a fleshy fruit with (b) Ruby grapefruit, a fleshy fruit
soft outer and inner layers with a hard outer layer and
of pericarp soft inner layer of pericarp

(c) Nectarine, a fleshy

fruit with a soft outer
layer and hard inner
layer (pit) of pericarp

(d) Milkweed, a dry fruit that (e) Walnut, a dry fruit that
Figure 30.8a–e splits open at maturity remains closed at maturity

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 • Can be carried by wind, water, or animals to new
locations, enhancing seed dispersal
(a) Wings enable maple fruits
to be easily carried by the wind.

(b) Seeds within berries and other

edible fruits are often dispersed
in animal feces.

(c) The barbs of cockleburs

facilitate seed dispersal by
allowing the fruits to
“hitchhike” on animals.
Figure 30.9a–c
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 The Angiosperm Life Cycle
• In the angiosperm life cycle
– Double fertilization occurs when a pollen tube
discharges two sperm into the female
gametophyte within an ovule
– One sperm fertilizes the egg, while the other
combines with two nuclei in the center cell of
the female gametophyte and initiates
development of food-storing endosperm

• The endosperm
– Nourishes the developing embryo
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 • The life cycle of an angiosperm
Key
1 Anthers contain microsporangia.
Each microsporangium contains micro- 2 Microspores form
Haploid (n)
sporocytes (microspore mother cells) that pollen grains (containing
Diploid (2n) divide by meiosis, producing microspores. male gametophytes). The
generative cell will divide
to form two sperm. The
Microsporangium tube cell will produce the
Anther
Microsporocytes (2n) pollen tube.
Mature flower on
sporophyte plant
(2n) MEIOSIS

Microspore (n) Generative cell

7 When a seed Ovule with
germinates, the megasporangium (2n)
embryo develops Tube cell
Male gametophyte
into a mature
(in pollen grain)
sporophyte.

Ovary
MEIOSIS Pollen
Germinating
grains
Seed
3 In the megasporangium Stigma
of each ovule, the
megasporocyte divides by Pollen
meiosis and produces four Megasporangium tube
Embryo (2n) megaspores. The surviving (n)
megaspore in each ovule Sperm
Endosperm forms a female gametophyte
6 The zygote Surviving
(food Seed (embryo sac).
develops into an megaspore Pollen
Supply) (3n) tube
embryo that is (n)
packaged along Seed coat (2n)
with food into a Style
seed. (The fruit Antipodal cells
tissues surround- Female gametophyte Polar nuclei
ing the seed are (embryo sac) Synergids Pollen
not shown). Egg (n) tube

Zygote (2n)
Nucleus of Egg Sperm
developing Nucleus (n) (n)
endosperm
(3n)
4 After pollina-
FERTILIZATION tion, eventually
two sperm nuclei
5 Double fertilization occurs. One sperm are discharged in
fertilizes the egg, forming a zygote. The each ovule.
other sperm combines with the two polar
nuclei to form the nucleus of the endosperm,
which is triploid in this example. Discharged
Figure 30.10 sperm nuclei (n)

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 Angiosperm Evolution
• Clarifying the origin and diversification of
angiosperms
– Poses fascinating challenges to evolutionary
biologists

• Angiosperms originated at least 140 million

years ago
– And during the late Mesozoic, the major
branches of the clade diverged from their
common ancestor

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 Fossil Angiosperms
• Primitive fossils of 125-million-year-old
angiosperms
– Display both derived and primitive traits
Carpel

Stamen

5 cm

(a) Archaefructus sinensis, a 125-million-year-

old fossil.

(b) Artist’s reconstruction of

Archaefructus sinensis

Figure 30.11a, b
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 An “Evo-Devo” Hypothesis of Flower Origins
• In hypothesizing how pollen-producing and
ovule-producing structures were combined into
a single flower
– Scientist Michael Frohlich proposed that the
ancestor of angiosperms had separate pollen-
producing and ovule-producing structures

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 Angiosperm Diversity
• The two main groups of angiosperms
– Are monocots and eudicots
• Basal angiosperms
– Are less derived and include the flowering
plants belonging to the oldest lineages
• Magnoliids
– Share some traits with basal angiosperms but
are more closely related to monocots and
eudicots

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 • Exploring Angiosperm Diversity
BASAL ANGIOSPERMS

Amborella trichopoda Water lily (Nymphaea Star anise (Illicium

“Rene Gerard”) floridanum)
HYPOTHETICAL TREE OF FLOWERING PLANTS

Water lilies

Monocots
Star anise
and relatives
Amborella

Magnoliids

MAGNOLIIDS Eudicots

Southern magnolia (Magnolia

grandiflora)

Figure 30.12
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 • Exploring Angiosperm Diversity
MONOCOTS EUDICOTS
Monocot Eudicot California
Orchid Characteristics Characteristics poppy
(Lemboglossum (Eschscholzia
fossii) californica)
Embryos

One cotyledon Two cotyledons

Leaf
venation Pyrenean oak
(Quercus
pyrenaica)
Veins usually Veins usually
parallel netlike

Pygmy date palm Stems

(Phoenix roebelenii)
Vascular tissue
Lily (Lilium
usually arranged
“Enchant- Vascular tissue
in ring
ment”) scattered

Roots

Root system Dog rose (Rosa canina), a wild rose

Barley (Hordeum vulgare), Usually fibrous Taproot (main root)
usually present Pea (Lathyrus
a grass (no main root)
nervosus,
Pollen Lord Anson’s
blue pea), a
legume
Pollen grain with Pollen grain with
one opening three openings

Flowers
Zucchini
Anther (Cucurbita
Stigma Floral organs Floral organs usually Pepo), female
usually in in multiples of (left) and
Filament Ovary multiples of three four or five male flowers
Figure 30.12
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 Evolutionary Links Between Angiosperms and Animals

• Pollination of flowers by animals and transport

of seeds by animals
– Are two important relationships in terrestrial
ecosystems

(a) A flower pollinated by
honeybees. This honeybee is
harvesting pollen and nectar (a
sugary solution secreted by
flower glands) from a Scottish
broom flower. The flower has a
tripping mechanism that arches
the stamens over the bee
and dusts it with pollen, some of
which will rub off onto the stigma
of the next flower the bee visits.
(b) A flower pollinated by hummingbirds.
The long, thin beak and tongue of this
rufous hummingbird enable the animal to
probe flowers that secrete nectar deep
within floral tubes. Before the hummer
leaves, anthers will dust its beak and
head feathers with pollen. Many flowers
that are pollinated by birds are red or
pink, colors to which bird eyes are
especially sensitive.
(c) A flower pollinated by nocturnal animals. Some
angiosperms, such as this cactus, depend mainly on
nocturnal pollinators, including bats. Common
adaptations of such plants include large, light-colored,
highly fragrant flowers that nighttime pollinators can
locate.

Figure 30.13a–c
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 • Concept 30.4: Human welfare depends greatly
on seed plants
• No group is more important to human survival
than seed plants

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 Products from Seed Plants
• Humans depend on seed plants for
– Food
– Wood
– Many medicines

Table 30.1
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 Threats to Plant Diversity
• Destruction of habitat
– Is causing extinction of many plant species
and the animal species they support

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