Sexual Reproduction in Plants

Sexual Reproduction in Plants
The sexual organs of plants are flowers. The following diagram illustrates a generalized structure of a
flower.
Figure1: Generalized Diagram of Flower
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 Flowers have male parts (stamens or androecium) and female parts (carpels or pistil or
gynoecium). The male parts of a flower include the filament and anther while the female
parts include the stigma, style and ovary.
Functions of Flower Parts
• Pedicel or Flower Stalk: This part links the flower to the stem and conducts water, nutrients
and hormones between these two parts.
• Receptacle: This is the swollen end of the pedicel where other parts of the flower are attached.
• Sepals: These are leaf-like structures that enclose the flower in the bud stage and protect it
from desiccation (drying up) and damage by pests and harsh weather conditions. A group of
sepals from the flower is called a calyx
• Petals: These are structures that are brightly coloured and scented in insect-pollinated
flowers to attract insects. In some flowers, the petals have nectar guidelines that lead to the
nectaries in the flowers.
• Stigma: This is the part that where pollen grains are deposited during pollination.
• Style: This holds the stigma in position and links it to the ovary. It is also used as a passage for
the pollen grain on its way from the stigma to the ovary through the pollen tube.
• Ovary: This is the part that makes and contains ovules. It becomes the fruit after fertilization.
• Ovule: Ovules contain female gametes and they develop into seeds after fertilization. Each
ovule has an embryo sac containing eight haploid nuclei as illustrated in the following diagram:
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Figure 2: Structure of Embryo Sac
• Anther: A structure made of pollen sacs where pollen grains are made and stored.
Figure 3: Structure of Pollen Grain
• Filament: This supports the anther and supplies it with water and nutrients.
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Pollination
This is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma on the same plant or different plants
of the same species. There are two types of pollination, namely self-pollination and cross
pollination. Self-pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma on the same
plant while cross pollination is the transfer of pollen grains from an anther present on a given plant to
a stigma on another plant of the same species.
Exercise: Most species of plants favour cross pollination.
(a) Suggest the advantages of cross pollination over self-pollination.
(b) What mechanisms in plants favour cross pollination?
Agents of pollination include mainly insects and wind. Insect-pollinated flowers are also called
entomophilous flowers while wind pollinated flowers are also called anemophilous flowers. The
following table compares the structures present in insect and wind pollinated flowers:
Structure Insect-pollinated flower Wind-pollinated flower
Petals Brightly-coloured, scented, large and Dull-coloured, non-scented, small, and have no
have nectaries nectaries
Anthers Small, firm and enclosed within Large, pendulous and exposed.
petals
Filaments Short and firm Long and dangling outside the flower
Stigmas Short, firm, lobed and enclosed in Long, feathery and exposed so as to easily trap
petals to ensure insects brush pollen grains from air
against them
Pollen Large, few and sticky Small, numerous and smooth

grains
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The Pollen Tube and Fertilization
• After pollination, the pollen grain absorbs water from the stigma and becomes swollen. Then
the pollen tube nucleus (tube nucleus) germinates to form a pollen tube which grows through
the stigma, style and ovary until it reaches the embryo sac inside the ovule.
• To form the pollen tube, the pollen tube nucleus secretes enzymes that break down part of the
stigma, style and ovary.
• Growth of the tube nucleus towards the ovule is guided by chemicals secreted by the synergids
that are found in the ovule. This is an example of positive chemotropism. After reaching the
micropyle (an opening in the wall of the ovule), the tube nucleus disintegrates.
• The generative nucleus follows the tube nucleus behind and divides into two haploid cells called
male nuclei (singular=male nucleus).
• The first male nucleus fuses with the egg cell to form a diploid zygote which later develops
into the embryo. The second male nucleus fuses with two polar nuclei to form a triploid cell
which later develops into the endosperm.
• The function of the endosperm is to act as a food storage tissue. This type of fertilization where
one male nucleus fuses with the egg cell to form a diploid zygote and the other male nucleus
fuses with two polar nuclei to form a triploid cell is called double fertilization. Figure 4:
Development of the Pollen Tube
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After fertilization, the ovule develops into a seed while the ovary develops into a fruit. Refer to notes
on plant growth and development for seed structure.
Fruit Structure
Figure 5: Generalized Structure of a Simple Fruit
end

Sexual Reproduction in Plants - Lesson Notes

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Functions of Flower Parts

Figure 3: Structure of Pollen Grain

Exercise: Most species of plants favour cross pollination.

(a) Suggest the advantages of cross pollination over self-pollination.

(b) What mechanisms in plants favour cross pollination?

Pollen Large, few and sticky Small, numerous and smooth

Figure 5: Generalized Structure of a Simple Fruit

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