Land plants can be divided into three different groups. One of these groups are nonvascular plants which include liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. The other two which are the focus of this paper are vascular seedless plants and vascular seed plants. The difference between vascular and nonvascular plants is that vascular plants have vascular tissue which enables them to grow up and be bigger than nonvascular plants. The difference between seed and seedless vascular plants is the presence of a seed. A seed is defined by the 10th Edition of Campbell Biology as “an adaption of some terrestrial plants consisting of an embryo packaged along with a store of food within a protective coat.” This includes anything from apple seeds to dandelion seeds. The absence or presence of a seed changes how a plant reproduces and also leads to different advantages and disadvantages to the plant. Seedless vascular plants include such plants as ferns, horsetails, club mosses, and whisk ferns. They live in wet environments because they require water for reproduction. They reproduce through the use of spores. Using ferns as an example the spores are found on the underside of the leaves. They are found in cases called sori and each sorus holds many spores which are haploid. Spores are released and they form gametophytes. Gametophytes make gametes which are also haploid and both the egg and the sperm of the fern are created in the gametophyte, but in different parts. The egg is made in the
C-Fern plants are a strain of Ceratopteris richardii and have a rapid reproductive cycle, making them perfect subjects in lab to be tested and observed on population genetics. Population genetics is the study of genetic variation and allelic frequencies on a specific group over an amount of time. It is a great way to predict future genetic information on more than just the C-Ferns. In this experiment, two different generations for gametophytes and sporophytes of C-Ferns were observed and counted for the amount of wild type and polka dot mutant individuals within a sample and a population. The overall results demonstrated a 1:1 ratio of mutant to wild type in the F1 gametophyte generation for both the sample and population, which was expected. The F1 sporophyte generation demonstrated a 1:1 ratio of mutant to wild type in the sample and a 2:1 ratio of mutant to wild type in the population. A 3:1 ratio of mutant to wild type was expected in the sporophytes. It was concluded that the polka dot mutant is recessive in sporophytes and demonstrates random fertilization in the diploid stage, but not in gametophytes. This process of population genetics in C-Ferns can be extremely beneficial in other organisms, such as humans. Population genetics could be a tool in medicine in determining human
Plants are found everywhere on earth, up high on the ridge and down low in caves and caverns. The types of plants that live in these places depends on many factors. These factors are separated into two different categories, the biotic factors and the abiotic factors. Some of the biotic factors include, predation, competition, and habitat destruction. Plants with limited competition and large amounts of resources will be in a higher abundance than plants with limited resources and higher competition rates will be confined to areas and either out competed or will be the dominant species. Certain plants adapt to these factors and thrive and others don’t do as well. Some of the abiotic factors include, sunlight, water, temperature, and wind. These
Germination is the stage of plant growth through which a seed becomes a seedling plant. First, the seed begins to absorb water and the radicle root emerges from the seed coat and into the water. Then, the primary roots grow, the cotyledons move above ground, the stem begins to grow, and leaves develop. The process is complete when the first leaves open and the cotyledons fall off (The Learning Garden 2001).
The germination process begins when water and oxygen are pulled into the seed by the seed’s coating. The embryo’s cells grow bigger as water and air
The results observed do not correspond with the outcome predicted by the hypothesis. Despite the nature of the subjects of the experiments, no substantial growth was observed. Only one seed of the 36 planted germinated, and it could only survive for a period of a week. The one seed that germinated reach a height of 1.2 cm. Table 1 presents the average growth observed in each quad. Each quad had a total of 12 seeds. No seeds were removed during the course of the experiment.
There are many ways to obtain seeds to grow flowers in the springtime, but not all seeds were created equal. Sunflower seeds, for example, can be bought at a garden store in a packet for $1.5 dollars per 6 gram packet, but they can also be found in bird seed for $3.53 dollars per 10 pounds. This experiment intends to find if the germination of a store bought packet of sunflower seeds matches the germination rate of sunflower seeds obtained from a bag of bird seed. While both seeds will germinate, it is believed that the bird seed will not be as robust in growth as the garden seed, due to the fact that the garden seed is made to be grown, while the bird seed is made for consumption.
Round seeds (R) are dominant to wrinkled seeds (r), and yellow seeds (Y) are dominant
Identify features of flowers of native species of angiosperms that may be adaptations for wind, insect, bird and mammal pollination.
University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. E J H Corner, 2002. The Life of Plants. University of Chicago Press,
Ceratopteris richardii, known as a C-fern has a lifecycle referred to as alteration of generations, which consist of neither haploid nor diploid dominant. C-ferns are homospours plants which are important in that they can produce hermaphrioditic gametophytes in order to be able to self fertilize. However, some of the homospourous C-ferns only produce male gametophytes .The life cycle of Ceratopteris richardii starts as a diploid sporophyte which then, by meiosis, produces haploid spores. These spores then undergo mitosis to produce a haploid gametophyte, which can be either hermaphrodite( producing eggs and
The experiment was successfully accomplished in classroom where the Brassica Rapa were grown under suitable conditions. The experiment began by developing a watering system to the plants using the idea of capillary action. The watering system was made up of a plastic reservoir filled with a certain amount of water and a water mat placed on the top of the plastic reservoir. This design was helpful in making sure that the plants are receiving water constantly. Also, one piece of copper sulfate was addedinto the reservoir to avoid any algal growth. Two Styrofoam quads with four cells each were used for planting the seeds of Brassica Rapa. The cells were numbered from one to eight and a wick was placed in each cell in a way that allowed water access from the water mat through the capillary action. Each cell was then half way filled with soil and two fertilizers were placed in
Vegetation is a key factor in determining the structure of an ecosystem. It determines many ecological parameters within a plant community such as microclimate, energy budged, photosynthesis, water regimes, surface runoff and soil temperature (Tappeiner and Cernusca, 1996). Vegetation of an area varies from place to place according to habitat heterogeneity of the area itself. The description and classification of the plant community in an ecosystem is known as Phytosociology (Braun-Blanquet, 1932; Odum, 1971). It’s an important characteristic in describing vegetation that offers a preliminary picture of the ecological character of the vegetation (Kershaw, 1973). Each site of study
ii) List and discuss several traits, in domestic plants of your choosing, that have a similar genetic basis.
Purpose: To see the effect of an acid introduced during seed germination, on the length of the plant roots. Also shows how salt can affect the seed germination. Acid can be introduced to seeds during germination if there is acid rain. Knowing the results of acid rain on seed germination will help us understand how to grow pants better, and how to have more successful germination. Salt can be introduced into a seed during germination because salt is put on roads and the salt builds up and can contaminate the soil. Knowing the effects of salt on seed germination will allow us to know for sure if the salt is affecting the plants growth or not.
Before a seed can germinate it must first shed the seed coat, a protective outer layer that protects the seed from parasites, injury, and unfavorable temperatures. Inside the seed coat is the embryo which contains the root and first leaves of the plant, called cotyledons. After the seed coat has been shed the root emerges first so that it can absorb water and nutrients. After the roots have come out of the embryo the cotyledons will follow. Some seeds need certain conditions to germinate and go