Introduction to Plant Reproduction

Types of Reproduction
Sexual
Requires the production of sex cells in reproductive organs Offspring are genetically different from either parent organism

Asexual
One organism produces offspring that are genetically identical to itself Under the right conditions, an entire plant can grow from one leaf or just a portion of the stem or root.

Some Examples of Asexual Reproduction

More Examples of Asexual Reproduction

If a potato is cut into pieces, each piece that contains an eye can be planted and will grow into a new potato plant.

Sexual Reproduction
Fertilization occurs when a sperm and egg combine to produce the zygote (-the first cell of the new organism).

Reproductive Organs
A plants female reproductive organs produce eggs and male reproductive organs produce sperm. Depending on the species, reproductive organs can be on the same plant or on separate plants.

Plant Life Cycles

All organisms have life cycles. A plant has a two-stage life cycle. It begins when an egg and a sperm come together, eventually producing a mature plant.

Two-Stage Life Cycle of a Plant

Gametophyte Stage Begins when reproductive cells undergo meiosis and produce spores (haploid cells). Spores grow into the gametophyte. The gametophyte then produces gametes (egg and sperm). Sporophyte Stage Begins when egg and sperm unite in fertilization to form a zygote. Cells produced in this stage are diploid. Meiosis in some of these cells forms spores, and the cycle begins again.

Two-Stage Life Cycle of a Plant

Seedless Reproduction

The Moss Life Cycle

Moss plants are usually either male or female, although some produce both types of sex organs. The moss plants that produce the gametes (either eggs or sperm) are called gametophytes and have a single set of chromosomes in their cells (haploid). In wet conditions, sperm cells are released from male sex organs and swim to the female organs. If a sperm cell fertilizes the egg inside the female organ, a sporeproducing plant develops.

The Moss Life Cycle Continued

The plant that grows from the fertilization is called the sporophyte. It has two sets of chromosomesone set from each gametein its cells (diploid). The sporophyte embryo grows out of the female plant and continues to be nourished by the mother plant while it sends up a stalk topped by a spore capsule (sporangia). As the spore capsule matures it releases its spores into the air, and then dies.

If moss spores fall in a damp place, they germinate and grow into leafy moss plants, and the cycle is completed.

This diagram of Dicranoloma robustum shows the main parts of moss. The leafy stem supports a wiry stalk bearing a spore capsule. A young spore capsule has a protective hood and lid, which are shed when the capsule matures. Rhizoids anchor the moss to its substrate.

The Moss Life Cycle: Another Look

The life cycle of a moss alternates between gametophyte and sporophyte stages.

Acrocladium chlamydophyllum produces loose clumps of leafy stems that form little arches when they branch.

The Fern Life Cycle

Ferns that you see growing in the woods or in a planter on your front porch are fern sporophyte plants. Fern leaves are called fronds. They grow from an underground stem called a rhizome. Fern sporophytes make their own food by photosynthesis. Fern spores are produced in structures called sori usually located on the underside of the fronds.

The Fern Life Cycle

If a fern spore lands on damp soil or rocks, it can grow into a small, green, heart-shaped gametophyte plant called a prothallus.

The prothallus contains chlorophyll and can make its own food. It absorbs water and nutrients from the soil.
Fern prothallus or gametophyte

The Fern Life Cycle

Mature ferns produce fertile fronds that carry spores. When the spores are released, they germinate into tiny heart-shaped plants with male and female sex organs. In wet conditions, sperm are carried to the female sex organ. When a sperm fertilizes an egg, a new spore-bearing fern begins to grow.

The Fern Life Cycle

Ferns also reproduce asexually. Fern rhizomes grow and form branches. New fronds and roots develop from each branch. The new rhizome branch can be separated from the main plant. It can grow on its own and form more fern plants.

Seed Reproduction

The Importance of Pollen and Seeds

Oak, maple, and other shade trees are seed plants. All flowers are produced by seed plants. Most of the plants on Earth are seed plants. In seed plants, some spores develop into pollen grains. A pollen grain has a waterresistant covering and contains gametophyte parts that can produce the sperm. How do the sperm and egg get together in plants?

Pollen
The sperm of seed plants are carried as part of the pollen grain by gravity, wind, water currents, or animals. The transfer of pollen to the female part of the plant is called pollination. After the pollen grain reaches the female part of a plant, sperm and a pollen tube are produced. The sperm moves through the pollen tube, then fertilization can occur.

Pollination
Self-Pollination If a plant has both organs, it can usually reproduce by itself (self-pollinate). However, some plants have both sex organs but still must exchange sex cells with other plants of the same type to reproduce. Why would this be advantageous? Disadvantageous? Cross-Pollination Sometimes a plants reproductive organs are on separate plants. In this case, the plant is either male or female. For fertilization to occur, the male and female plants must grow near each other and cross-pollinate. Why would this be advantageous? Disadvantageous?

Seeds
A seed contains an embryo, stored food, and a protective seed coat.
The embryo has structures that eventually will produce the plants stem, leaves, and roots. The stored food provides energy that is needed when the plant embryo begins to grow into a plant.

A new plant can develop faster from a seed than from a spore.

Gymnosperm Reproduction
Cones are the reproductive structures of gymnosperms. A pine tree is a sporophyte plant that produces male cones and female cones. Male and female gametophyte structures are produced in the cones. Pollen is carried from male cones to female cones by the wind. To be useful, the pollen has to be blown between the scales of a female cone.

Gymnosperm Reproduction
If the pollen grain and the female cone are the same species, fertilization and the formation of a seed can take place. From the moment a pollen grain falls on the female cone until the seeds are released, can take two or three years.

Angiosperm Reproduction
All angiosperms have flowers. The sporophyte plant produces the flowers. Flowers contain gametophyte structures that produce sperm or eggs for sexual reproduction.

The Flower
Most flowers have four main parts petals, sepals, stamen, and pistil.

The Flower
The stamen is the male reproductive organ. It is where pollen is produced. Sperm develop in each pollen grain. The pistil is the female reproductive organ. Eggs are produced in the ovule.

Importance of Flowers
Large flowers with brightly colored petals often attract insects and other animals. As they move about the flower, the animals get pollen on their wings, legs, or other body parts. Later, these animals spread the flowers pollen to other plants that they visit.

 Other flowers depend on wind, rain, or gravity to spread their pollen. Their petals can be small or absent.

Wheat does not have a strong odor and is not brightly colored. How do you think it is pollinated?

Floral Arrangements
It's a problem faced by all seed-producing plants: how to get their pollen into the flower of another plant of the same species. This video segment from Sexual Encounters of a Floral Kind explores some of the strategies plants have evolved to solve the problem.

Angiosperm Seeds
When pollen grains land on the sticky stigma, a flower is pollinated. Then, a pollen tube grows from the pollen grain down through the style. The pollen tube enters the ovary and reaches an ovule. The sperm then travels down the pollen tube and fertilizes the egg in the ovule. A zygote forms and grows into the plant embryo.

Seed Development
Following pollination and fertilization, the ovules of flowers can develop into seeds. Seeds of land plants are capable of surviving unfavorable environmental conditions. In the seeds of some plants, like beans and peanuts, food is stored in structures called cotyledons. The seeds of other plants, like corn and wheat, have food stored in a tissue called endosperm. Why does the seed have stored food?

1. 2. 3. 4.

Immature Plant Cotyledon(s) Seed Coat Endosperm

Seed Dispersal
Plants have many ways of dispersing their seeds. Can you think of some examples? Most seeds grow only when they are placed on or in soil. They fall onto the soil from the parent plant on which they grew. Sometimes seeds are spread great distances from the parent plant.

Seed Dispersal
Wind dispersal usually occurs because a seed has an attached structure that moves it with air currents. Water also disperses seeds.
Raindrops can knock seeds out of a dry fruit. Some fruits and seeds float on flowing water or ocean currents.

Gravity

Seed Dispersal
Animals can disperse many seeds.
Some seeds are eaten with fruits, pass through an animals digestive system, and are dispersed as the animal moves from place to place. Attaching to fur, feathers, and clothing is another way that seeds are dispersed by animals.

Seed Dispersal Videos: The Seedy Side of Plants: Shooting

Seeds, Burrowing Seeds

Seed Dispersal

Germination
A series of events that results in the growth of a plant from a seed is called germination. Seeds will not germinate until environmental conditions are right. Temperature, the presence or absence of light, availability of water, and amount of oxygen present can affect germination.

Germination
Germination begins when seed tissues absorb water. This causes the seed to swell and the seed coat to break open. Next, a series of chemical reactions occurs that releases energy from the stored food in the cotyledons or endosperm for growth. Eventually, a root grows from the seed, followed by a stem and leaves. Germinating Seed

Extra Resource: The Secret Lives of Flowers

For Those of You Who Said That Plants Are Boring.

Plants Are Cool Too!