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A gametangium (pl.: gametangia) is a sex organ or cell in which gametes are produced that is found in many multicellular protists, algae, fungi, and the gametophytes of plants. In contrast to gametogenesis in animals , a gametangium is a haploid structure and formation of gametes does not involve meiosis .
Under a lens, pores can be seen on the upper surface. The gametangia (sex organs) grow vertically from the thallus, the plant is dioicous so individual plants produce male or female gametangia. [1] The male gametangia are called an antheridiophores, they are short with a flat disc-like structure which is approximately 1 cm (0.39 in) wide.
Fungi, algae, and primitive plants form specialized haploid structures called gametangia, where gametes are produced through mitosis. In some fungi, such as the Zygomycota, the gametangia are single cells, situated on the ends of hyphae, which act as gametes by fusing into a zygote. More typically, gametangia are multicellular structures that ...
The development of gametangia provided further protection specifically for gametes, the zygote and the developing sporophyte. [47] The bryophytes and vascular plants (embryophytes) also have embryonic development which is not seen in green algae. [46]
It is dioicous: male plants produce only antheridia in terminal rosettes, female plants produce only archegonia in the form of stalked capsules. [26] Seed plant gametophytes are also dioicous. However, the parent sporophyte may be monoecious, producing both male and female gametophytes or dioecious, producing gametophytes of one gender only.
Female gametophytes of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. Gametophores are prominent structures in seedless plants on which the reproductive organs are borne. [citation needed] [1] The word gametophore (more accurately gametangiophore) is composed of the greek ‘gamete-,’ referring (loosely) to gametangia [citation needed] and ‘-phore’ (Greek Φορά, "to be carried"). [2]
Bryophytes have the most elaborate gametophytes of all living land plants, and thus have a wide variety of gametangium positions and developmental patterns. Gametangia are typically borne on the tips of shoots, but may also be found in the axils of leaves, under thalli or on elaborate structures called gametangiophores. Bryophyte species may be:
Growth of the gametangia commences after gametangia come in contact, and plasmogamy, or the fusion of the cytoplasm, occurs. Karyogamy, which is the fusion of the nuclei, follows closely after. The zygosporangia are then diploid. Zygosporangia are typically thick-walled, highly resilient to environmental hardships, and metabolically inert.