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Prothallus of the tree fern Dicksonia antarctica (note new moss plants for scale) Spore-bearing plants , like all plants, go through a life-cycle of alternation of generations . The fully grown sporophyte , what is commonly referred to as the fern , produces genetically unique spores in the sori by meiosis .
Three of these independent gametophyte cells degenerate and the one that remains is the gametophyte mother cell which normally contains one nucleus. [24] In general, it will then divide by mitosis until it consists of 8 nuclei separated into 1 egg cell, 3 antipodal cells , 2 synergid cells , and a central cell that contains two nuclei.
The result is a multi-cellular haploid organism, called the gametophyte (because it produces gametes at maturity). [17] When it reaches maturity, the gametophyte produces one or more gametangia (singular: gametangium) which are the organs that produce haploid gametes. At least one kind of gamete possesses some mechanism for reaching another ...
In ferns and seed plants (including cycads, conifers, flowering plants, etc.) the sporophyte is the dominant generation; the obvious visible plant, whether a small herb or a large tree, is the sporophyte, and the gametophyte is very small. In bryophytes and ferns, the gametophytes are independent, free-living plants, while in seed plants, each ...
Sperm cells are derived by mitosis of the generative cell during pollen tube elongation. The vegetative cell is responsible for pollen tube development. Double-strand breaks in DNA that arise appear to be efficiently repaired in the generative cell, but not in the vegetative cell, during the transport process to the female gametophyte. [32]
Each microspore may develop into a male gametophyte consisting of a somewhat spherical antheridium within the microspore wall. Either 128 or 256 sperm cells with flagella are produced in each antheridium. [3] The only heterosporous ferns are aquatic or semi-aquatic, including the genera Marsilea, Regnellidium, Pilularia, Salvinia, and Azolla.
These groups are sometimes called "lower plants", referring to their status as the earliest plant groups to evolve, but the usage is imprecise since both groups are polyphyletic and may be used to include vascular cryptogams, such as the ferns and fern allies that reproduce using spores.
A gametophyte is one of the two alternating multicellular phases of the fern life cycle. The gametophyte is haploid. The other stage is the diploid sporophyte. A gametophyte is a multicellular organism that develops from a haploid spore (that has one set of chromosomes).