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Bryophytes: Mosses
Concepts tested here
- Dependence of moss sporophyte
All Questions
2006 AIPMT-PRE 1 question
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In a moss the sporophyte -In mosses the dominant phase of the life cycle is the green, leafy gametophyte.
The sporophyte develops from the zygote and remains attached to the gametophyte; it consists of a foot, a seta and a capsule.
The foot is embedded in the gametophyte and absorbs water and mineral nutrients from it.
The capsule of the moss sporophyte contains chlorophyll-bearing tissue, so it can manufacture a part of its own food.
It is therefore only partially dependent (semi-parasitic) on the gametophyte, not completely.
The sporophyte produces spores (not gametes) by meiosis; it arises from the zygote, not from a spore; and it does not supply food to the gametophyte.
So in a moss the sporophyte is partially parasitic on the gametophyte.