KINGDOM PLANTAE

Division Bryophyta
 DIVISION BRYOPHYTA

The first land plants.

Plants are usually small since they

lack a vascular tissue system or
tissue required for larger growth.

Some exhibit a fair degree of

differentiation of the thallus or
body.
 DIVISION BRYOPHYTA

They Usually found in damp

forests where deep shade protects
them from the intense rays of the
sun.

They thrive in places where the

humidity is always high enough to
keep them from drying out.
 DIVISION BRYOPHYTA

The bryophytes have a well-defined alternation of

generation in which an independent gametophyte
generation alternates with a dependent
sporophyte generation.

The sporophyte generation is diploid and

produces the spore, which then gives rise to the
haploid gametophyte.

The haploid gametophyte, in turn, produces the

gametes, which after fusion produces a zygote,
which germinates to an embryo sporophyte.
Division Bryophyta can be divided into three classes :

1. Class Hepaticopsida – the liverworts or hepatics

2. Class Anthocerotopsida – the hornworts

3. Class Muscopsida – the mosses

 CLASS HEPATICOPSIDA

• Commonly called liverworts due to the thallis resembling the shape

of the liver

• Thallus grows as a relatively large, flat photosynthetic structure lying

on the surface of the ground. Thallus is irregularly branched and
midrib Rhizoids arise on the under surface of the thallus

• Majority of the liverworts grow in moist and shady localities.

• The gametophyte is the prominent plant and the sporophyte is

usually partially dependent on the gametophyte.
 CLASS HEPATICOPSIDA

• Marchantia is a liverwort belonging to Order Marchantiales. It

grows freely on moist soils and rocks. The thallus is normally
flat and dichotomously branched.

• Asexual reproduction in Marchantia and other liverworts is

usually by fragmentation. Another mode of asexual
reproduction is possible through the formation of tiny, cuplike
propagative bodies called gemmae cup. The cup is lobed on
the outer rim and has a cavity containing number of green,
elliptical, platelike, vegetative organs called gemmae. The
gemmae are attatched to the bottom of the cup by the small
stalks.
 CLASS HEPATICOPSIDA
• Sexual reproduction in Marchantia occurs through the
formation of specialized reproductive structures, the
antheridium or male gametangium and the archegonium or
female gametangium.

• The antheridia arise in a disk-like receptacle with a supporting

stalk and are called an antheridiophore.

• The archegonia arise from a specialized disk characterized by

having fingerlike rays. The entire disk with its supporting stalk
is called the archegoniophore.

• The archegonium is a flask shaped structure consisting of an

expanded portion, the venter, where the single egg cell is
located, and an elongated portion, the neck to which cover
cells are located at the top.
CLASS: HEPATICOPSIDA
Order: MARCHANTIALES
Genus: marchantia

Marchantia gemmae cup

CLASS: HEPATICOPSIDA
Order: MARCHANTIALES
Genus: marchantia

Marchantia antheridia Marchantia archegonia

 CLASS ANTHOCEROTOPSIDA

• Organisms belonging to this class like the heptics have both the
gametophyte and sporophyte thallus. The gametophyte of the
hornworts are much simpler and show little internal differentiation.

• The antheridia and archegonia are similar in structure to those

present in the hepatics, however instead of being borne on elaborate
gametophores, these are produced in little grooves on the dorsal side
of the thallus such that these are in direct contact with the vegetative
cells surrounding them.
 CLASS: ANTHOCEROTOPSIDA
Order: Anthocerotales
Genus: Anthocerotae

Growth habit of Marchantia

Anthoceros antheridia
 CLASS MUSCOPSIDA

• Mosses are conspicuous small plants that frequently cover large

areas of stream banks.

• The gametophyte of mosses usually have two growth stages the

protonema or the creeping filamentous stage and the moss
plant with an upright or horizontal “stem” bearing small,
spirally arranged “leaves”.

• The antheridia of most mosses are enclosed by a sterile jacket

of cells, which contain chloroplast that become orange-red when
the antheridium ripens. Club-shaped multicellular sterile hairs
(paraphyses) with conspicuous chloroplast surround the
antheridia.
 CLASS MUSCOPSIDA

• The archegonium has an elongated neck and an expanded basal

portion, the venter which contains the egg.

• The moss sporophyte consist of the foot, the sea (stalk), and the
sporangium (capsule). The foot is embedded in the gametophyte
tissue while the seta elongates rapidly raising the capsule above
the top of the leafy gametophyte. The calyptra which is upper
end of the old archegonium remains and serves as a covering
for the capsule.
CLASS: MUSCOPSIDA

Growth habit of a moss

CLASS: MUSCOPSIDA

Moss archegonia Moss antheridia

GUIDE QUESTIONS
1. Describe the observed alternation of generation in
the bryophyte life cycle.

All plants undergo a life cycle that takes them through both
haploid and diploid generations. The fluctuation between these
diploid and haploid stages that occurs in plants is called the
alternation of generations. The way in which the alternation of
generations occurs in plants depends on the type of plant. In
bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), the dominant generation is
haploid, so that the gametophyte comprises what we think of as
the main plant.
1. Describe the observed alternation of generation in
the bryophyte life cycle.
Like all plants, the bryophyte life cycle goes through both
haploid (gametophyte) and diploid (sporophyte) stages. The
gametophyte comprises the main plant (the green moss or liverwort),
while the diploid sporophyte is much smaller and is attached to the
gametophyte. The haploid stage, in which a multicellular haploid
gametophyte develops from a spore and produces haploid gametes, is
the dominant stage in the bryophyte life cycle.

The mature gametophyte produces both male and female

gametes, which join to form a diploid zygote. The zygote develops
into the diploid sporophyte, which extends from the gametophyte
and produces haploid spores through meiosis. Once the spores
germinate, they produce new gametophyte plants and the cycle
continues.
2. Compare the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses.
What are their similarities and differences?

Liverworts, mosses, and hornworts are examples of a group of plants

called bryophytes. Bryophytes do not have a vascular system to carry nutrients
high above the ground. As a result, they do not grow large because they cannot
transport water a long distance, and are limited to damp shady areas. They
reproduce by spores, rather than seeds.

Mosses are soft and leafy, with many tiny leaves, and the sporophytes
are small capsules on the end of long thin seta. Sex organs are usually protected
by sheathing leaves. Rhizoids are multicellular and much branched. Leaves are
not lobed and often possess a midrib several cells in thickness.
2. Compare the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses.
What are their similarities and differences?

Liverworts can be either thallose (large and rubbery leaves with flower-
like capsules) or leafy (smaller leaves). Their leaves are often lobed and lack a
midrib usually growing much closer to the ground, their sporophytes are either
like rubbery, green flowers or globes on a stem. Sex organs are discrete and
generally on the surface, but protected by enveloping structures. Rhizoids are
unicellular.

Hornworts are made of thalli. Thalli are irregularly lobed and branching
bodies. The hornworts possess a thallose gametophyte in which the sex organs
are completely embedded in the thallus. The sporophyte is always horn-shaped
and consists mainly of a sporangium that matures from the apex downward to
its foot in the thallus.
3. How does fertilization occurs in the bryophytes?
Why is water a requirement for the completion of the
life cycle of these organisms?

When a bryophyte spore settles somewhere, it grows into a

gametophyte. Gametophytes are green and leafy, but small. A
gametophyte’s reproductive organs are called antheridia (male)
and archegonia (female). The antheridia and archegonia look like
little umbrellas sticking up from the plant. Antheridia make sperm
and archegonia make eggs. After sperm and egg join in
fertilization, the zygote grows into a sporophyte. This is still
happening on the gametophyte, which makes the sporophyte
generation completely dependent on the gametophyte generation.
Sporophytes make spores in the plant’s spore factory, called a
sporangium. The spores are then released from a capsule on top of
the sporophyte.
3. How does fertilization occurs in the bryophytes?
Why is water a requirement for the completion of the
life cycle of these organisms?

The first thing bryophytes need to reproduce is water. Since they

usually live in places that are moist at least some of the time, this
isn’t really a problem for bryophytes. However, they still wait until
a rainy period to reproduce, because they need water to carry
sperm to the eggs.
4. What is a gemmae cup? How is it formed? What is
its function? In what class(es) of the Bryophyte
Division do you observe gemmae cup formation?

A gemmae cup is a cup-like structure containing gemmae.

Gemmae are masses of cells or modified buds of tissue that'll be
detached from the parent and develop into new individuals. Gemmae
cups are borne along the midrib on the dorsal surface of the
gametophyte of some bryophytes. The cups are formed from rings of
stiff leaves, and gemmae grow off stems, leaves or thallose surfaces
and sometimes are visible only under the microscope, compared to
the gemmae of Marchantia which can be seen under the naked eye.
4. What is a gemmae cup? How is it formed? What is
its function? In what class(es) of the Bryophyte
Division do you observe gemmae cup formation?

Gemmae cups function in reproduction. The cups hold

gemmae inside their cavity which will be moved away from the
parental plant on a splash-cup dispersal mechanism. When rain
droplets land in the cup, the gemmae are dislodged and can be
carried in the water as it splatters away from the parent plant. Since
mature gemmae are capable of germination, this mechanism results
to new individuals, and this is one of the ways bryophytes reproduce
asexually. We can observe gemmae cup formation in classes
Hepaticopsida (liverworts) and Muscopsida (mosses).
5. Describe how spores are produced in the
bryophytes

Bryophytes have neither pollen nor flowers and rely on water to carry
the male gametes (the sperm) to the female gametes (the eggs). The spore
capsules are produced after the sperm have fertilized the eggs. Hence the
spores are part of the sexual reproductive cycle.

A germinating spore produces a new gametophyte. Each spore has a

single set of chromosomes and so is a haploid entity. In each cell of the
gametophyte that develops from a spore there is just a single set of
chromosomes so gametophytes are also haploid. The sperm and eggs are
haploid. When a sperm meets and fertilizes an egg two sets of chromosomes
(an equal number from each parent) are combined and the fertilized egg (or
zygote) is a diploid entity. The sporophyte that develops from a fertilized egg
has two sets of chromosomes in each cell and so is also diploid.
5. Describe how spores are produced in the
bryophytes

In the process of spore production in the capsule, haploid

spores are produced by the diploid sporophyte. This happens by
the process of meiosis, the same process by which animals
(including humans) produce eggs and sperm, and by which the
flowering plants produce eggs and pollen. During meiosis genes
from each parent are recombined in various ways. The haploid
spores that result will often show great genetic variety, though
there can be exceptions. Once the new haploid spores are released
the whole sexual reproduction cycle may start again.