Summary from last time 470 mya years ago- the first fossils of land plants. DNA evidence suggests that the first land plants came from an algal scum ~1.2 BYA in form of filamentous green alga. First land plants were the Bryophytes 4) Today, these plants are still restricted to moist conditions. 5) They still have swimming sperm and are dependent on water for fertilization but are assisted by animals in that process. 6) They evolved spores which allows them to survive dry conditions and they evolved ways to become dormant as mature plants in drought.
Land Plants Review Bryophytes= Mosses, Liverworts, Hornworts Moist environments Swimming sperm Homosporous- Single gametophyte Gametophyte (n) haploid stage is dominant Embryo (2n) is parasitic on gametophyte Lack xylem & phloem Small plants
Now LAND PLANT EVOLUTION Monocot Eudicot Gymnosperms (Naked seeds) Angiosperms (Seeds in flowers and fruit) Now Non-seeds Seeds Bryophytes (Non-vascular) Tracheophytes (Vascular) Green Algae
Tracheophytes Tracheophytes
Overview of Land Plants Bryophytes Tracheophytes
Advances of Tracheophytes over Bryophytes xylem and phloem lignin = wood thick waxy cuticle stomates profuse branching increased young tissues for photosynthesis increased areas for sporangia (as opposed to only one sporangium per sporophyte in the Bryophytes) highly differentiated plant tissues and organs
What characteristic would you expect Tracheophytes to lack? Mitochondria Swimming sperm Embryos Gametangia Seeds Pollen None. They would have them all 1
All with swimming sperm First Tracheophytes Whisk Ferns Horsetails All with swimming sperm Club Mosses Ferns All lack seeds
Land Plants Review Tracheophytes: Ferns as an example Moist environments Swimming sperm Homosporous- Single gametophyte Sporophyte (2n) stage is dominant Embryo (2n) is parasitic on gametophyte WIth xylem & phloem Can be large plants
Sporophyte Dominant in Tracheophytes e.g. Ferns
Fern Life Cycle SORI
Fern Life Cycle
Diploid (Sporophyte generation is dominant In tracheophytes
Characteristics of Plants Alternation of generations In Bryophytes the haploid (n) generation is dominant In Tracheophytes the diploid (2n) generation
Female pine cones Male pine cones
Where are the gametophyte (n) tissues? Answer: They are the few cells that undergo meiosis to produce the gametes
Homosporous Life Cycle e.g. Bryophytes and Ferns One kind of spore One kind of gametophyte
Heterosporous Life Cycle Seed Plants 2 kinds of spores 2 kinds of gametophytes
Land Plants Review Tracheophytes: Seed Plants; e.g. Conifers, & Flowering plants Found in all types of environments Sporophyte (2n) dominant Heterosporous= seed plants have two types of spores; two gametophytes Gametophytes (n) are tiny and are the few cells that produce the pollen and egg Xylem & Phloem Can be large plants
Land Plants Review Homosporous 1 gametophyte Heterosporous 2 gametophytes One type of spore Mosses & Ferns Two types of spores Gymnosperms & Angiosperms
Plant Adaptations to Land Selective advantages to land Less competition for light and nutrients Less predation Problems with new environment Physical support Water loss and availability Reproduction Temperature fluctuations
How Plants Deal with Problems Problem: Physical support Solution: Internal support Roots: anchor plants in soil & acquire nutrients & H2O
How Plants Deal with Problems Problem: Physical support Solution: Internal support Stems: Turgor pressure in cells with cell walls Lignin = “wood” Secondary growth—i.e. growth in width (Rings of Xylem)
How Plants Deal with Problems Problem: Water loss & availability Solution: Conserve & acquire H20 Acquire H20 H20 from soil via root Transport via xylem Mutualism with fungus (mycorrhizae)
Fungi in Soil
Plants are connected to underground fungi in a mutualistic relationship
Carbohydrates Plant Fungus H20 & minerals
Fungi form connections with many plants Fungal superhighway
Plants exchange nutrients Fungal Superhighway
When herbivores (e.g. aphids) eat plants, the plants start making distasteful and toxic chemicals to deter further destruction
When plants are attacked by herbivores they send signals the each other via the mycorrhizae. Fungal Internet
AND When plants are attacked they produce volitles (vapors) which affect other plants to produce defensive chemicals
When plants are attacked they produce volitle (vapors) which pass through the air to alert other plants
And these vapors will attract aphid predators and parasitoids Wasp laying egg in aphid
How Plants Deal with Problems Problem: Water loss & availability Solution: Conserve & acquire H20 Conserving H20—Reduce leaf size and store water
How Plants Deal with Problems Conserving H20—Require large surface area for photosynthesis (leaves) Waxy cuticle on leaves
How Plants Deal with Problems Conserving H20—Require large surface area for photosynthesis (leaves) Waxy cuticle on leaves prevents water loss But what about the need for CO2?
Water Loss in Plants Problem: Need C02 for photosynthesis Holes in surface of leaf, but this means H20 loss Stomates & guard cells controls water loss
How Plants Deal with Problems Conserving H20—Require large surface area for photosynthesis (leaves) Deciduous leaves prevent water loss during winter
How Plants Deal with Problems Problem: Water & reproduction Solutions: Pollen= non-swimming sperm with tough water resistant coat Carried by wind or animals
Seeds= embryo + endosperm + seed coat Seeds evolved 365 MYA in Gymnosperms Seeds found in Siberian permafrost 32,000 years old have been germinated.
How Plants Deal with Problems Seed Dispersal Wind Large surface area to catch the breezes Maple seeds with wings
How Plants Deal with Problems Seed Dispersal Wind Large surface area to catch the breezes
How Plants Deal with Problems Seed Dispersal Water Seeds must float Coconuts
How Plants Deal with Problems Seed Dispersal Animals Caught on fur or body Cockleburs
How Plants Deal with Problems Seed Dispersal Animals Fruit eaten by animals & the seeds dropped at a distance from the parent plant
How Plants Deal with Problems Seed Dispersal “Anachronistic Fruits” = Fruits whose seed dispersers are extinct. Osage orange
Osage Orange Mastodon
Why Are There Different Leaf Shapes?
Leaf Evolution & Adaptations WHY?
Next Time