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In heterosporous seedless vascular plants, modified leaves called microsporophylls bear microsporangia containing many microsporocytes that undergo meiosis, each producing four microspores. Each microspore may develop into a male gametophyte consisting of a somewhat spherical antheridium within the microspore wall.
A microsporangium (pl. microsporangia) is a sporangium that produces microspores that give rise to male gametophytes when they germinate. Microsporangia occur in all vascular plants that have heterosporic life cycles, such as seed plants, spike mosses and the aquatic fern genus Azolla.
Microspores: Produced sexually through meiosis, and give rise to a male gametophyte: Pollen in seed plants In plants, microspores, and in some cases megaspores, are formed from all four products of meiosis. Megaspores (macrospores) Produced sexually through meiosis, and give rise to a female gametophyte: Ovule in seed plants
Spores of two distinct sizes (heterospory or anisospory): larger megaspores and smaller microspores. When the two kinds of spore are produced in different kinds of sporangia, these are called megasporangia and microsporangia. A megaspore often (but not always) develops at the expense of the other three cells resulting from meiosis, which abort.
Heterospory was a key event in the evolution of both fossil and surviving plants. The retention of megaspores and the dispersal of microspores allow for both dispersal and establishment reproductive strategies. This adaptive ability of heterospory increases reproductive success as any type of environment favors having these two strategies.
Surrounding them at the edge of the sorus and developing later are the microsporangia, each of which will produce many small male microspores. [ 11 ] Because the Marsileaceae produce two kinds of spore (and thus two kinds of gametophyte), they are called heterosporous .
These microspore mother cells, also called microsporocytes, then undergo meiosis and become four microspore haploid cells. These new microspore cells then undergo mitosis and form a tube cell and a generative cell. The generative cell then undergoes mitosis one more time to form two male gametes, also called sperm.
Microsporidian infections of humans sometimes cause a disease called microsporidiosis. At least 14 microsporidian species, spread across eight genera, have been recognized as human pathogens. These include Trachipleistophora hominis. [24]