Myrabelle B.

Lopez

ASSIGNMENT 2 – BOT 111

1. Name four ways that seeds are adaptive.

Seeds are considered to be adaptive in variety of manner such as:

 Through the seed coat, it provides protection from mechanical damage, desiccation, and
often predation.
 It serves as the dispersing organ during sexual reproduction.
 The seed ensures that the germination of the seed only occurs when subjected to ideal
conditions of temperature, sunlight, or moisture.
 During germination, the nutritive tissue surrounding the embryo provides energy for the
young seedling allowing it to develop successfully.

2. Based on fossil evidence, what was the precursor of the integument and micropyle?

The integument likely evolved from separate lobes derived from the ancestral branches known as
telomes which surrounded the megasporangium. These preovules prior to the evolution of integuments,
possessed a rim or ring of tissue at the apex of the megasporangium, the lagenostome, which functioned
to funnel pollen grains to a pollination chamber. Seed evolution occurred with the evolutionary “fusion”
of the telomes to form the integument, a continuous sheath that completely surrounds the nucellus.

3. What is a pollen tube and how does it function?

It is produced by the male gametophytes of seed plants. It is considered to have a lot of essential
functions which helps the flower in successful reproduction like it helps in transporting the male gamete
cells from the pollen grain which can either be from the stigma to the ovules at the base of the pistil or
directly through ovule tissue in some gymnosperms.

4. Define and state the significance of the pollination droplet.

It is secreted by the young ovule through the micropyle which is formed by the breakdown of
cells at the distal end of the megasporangium (nucellus), known as the pollination chamber. This droplet
aids in transporting pollen grains through the micropyle by its resorption ,which “pulls” pollen grains that
have contacted the droplet into the pollination chamber.
5. Review the stages of ovule and seed development, and explain the lag period between pollination
and fertilization.

1) A single megasporocyte of the megasporangium undergoes meiosis to produce 4 haploid

megaspores.

2) All but one of the 4 megaspores aborts.

3) The nucleus of the active megaspore increases in size via numerous mitotic divisions, producing
the tissue of the female gametophyte.

4) The cells of the female gametophyte become differentiated into storage tissue and one or more
distal archegonia, each with a single egg cell.

5) A collar develops around the megasporangium containing the female gametophyte, differentiating
into an integument with a micropyle, through which the pollen grain enters.

The lag period between pollination and fertilization is defined as the time of effective pollination
period which ensures the success of reproduction.

REFERENCES

Chapter5 Evolution And Diversity Of Woody And Seed Plants (n.d.) Retrieved March 28, 2019 from
http://booksite.elsevier.com/9780123743800/solutions/Chapter_05_Review_Questions.doc

Plant Systematics Quiz 3. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2019, from https://quizlet.com/49074996/plant-
systematics-quiz-3-flash-cards/

Simpson, M. (1953) Plant systematics