Life cycle of a moss

A lecture by Dr. Anand Sharma

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Dr. Anand Sharma

• Ph.D. Life Sciences

• Teaching experience of more than 20 years
• Mentored AIR-2 in NEET and AIIMS in 2017 and many others..
• Successfully guided students for KVPY and Biology Olympiads
MOSSES

 The predominant stage of life cycle of moss is the gametophyte, which consists of two
stages protonema & leafy stages.

 They grow on moist soils, rocks, tree trunks forming extensive mats.

 The plant body is a leafy gametophyte with multicellular and branched rhizoids.

 They consist of upright, slender axis bearing spirally arranged leaves.

 Vegetative reproduction in mosses is by fragmentation and budding.

 In sexual reproduction, sex organs antheridia and archegonia are produced at apex of
leafy shoot. Sex organs are present on different branches of same plant.
 Antheridium produce a number of biflagellate antherozoids & archegonium produce a
fertile egg.

 Fertilization results in formation of zygote which develops into sporophyte. It is

differentiated into foot, seta and capsule.

 Capsule enclose two spore sacs with spore mother cells which undergo sporic meiosis to
produce spores.

 The mosses have an elaborate mechanism of spore dispersal.

 The spores germinate into protonema, a juvenile stage.

 Protonema is a creeping , green branched and frequently filamentous stage.

 This Primary protonema reproduces vegetatively to give leafy gametophyte through buds.

 Leafy gametophytes gives rise to secondary protonema.

 The protonema developed from the part of the plant other than spores are called the
secondary protonema .

 In their function and behaviour they are similar to primary protonema Leafy stage
develops from secondary protonema as a lateral bud. Eg: Funaria, Sphagnum,
Polytrichum.