Chapter 18

Evolution of
Plants and Fungi

Lecture Outline

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18.1 Plants have a green algal ancestor

Multicellular, photosynthetic eukaryotes
Evolved from freshwater green algae some 500
million years ago
Evidence Both green algae and plants
1. Contain chlorophylls a and b and various
accessory pigments
2. Store excess carbohydrates as starch
3. Have cellulose in their cell wall

18-2

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

flowers, double fertilization, endosperm, fruit

common ancestor

Flowering plants
Seed

seeds

Vascular

Gymnosperms

vascular
tissue
apical
growth

Seedless

Ferns and allies

microphylls
Lycophytes
embryo
protection

Bryophytes

Mosses
Hornworts

common
green
algal
ancestor

Liverworts

Charophytes
550

500

450

400
350
Million Years Ago (MYA)

300

250

PRESENT

18-3

Figure 18.1A The evolution of plants

Nonvascular

megaphylls

18.2 Alternation of generations life cycle

2 multicellular stages alternate
Sporophyte represents the diploid generation (2n)
Produces spores by meiosis
A spore undergoes mitosis to become a gametophyte

Gametophyte represents the haploid generation (n)

Produces gametes
In plants, eggs and sperm are produced by mitosis
A sperm and egg fuse, forming a diploid zygote that
undergoes mitosis and becomes the sporophyte
18-4

Figure 18.2 Alternation of generations

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

sporophyte (2n)
to
Mi
si s

zygote (2n)

sporangium (2n)
diploid (2n)

FERTILIZATION

MEIOSIS

haploid (n)

(n)

to
Mi

gametophyte (n)

sis

(n)
gametes

Mi
tos
is

spore (n)

18-5

18.3 Sporophyte dominance was

adaptive to a dry land environment
Plants differ as to which generation is dominant
Only the sporophyte has vascular tissue for
transporting water and nutrients
Only plants with a dominant sporophyte
generation attain significant height

18-6

Figure 18.3A The size of the gametophyte is progressively reduced as

the sporophyte becomes more dominant
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

spores

G
a
m
e
t
o
p
h
y
t
e
(n)

seed

spores

seed

roots
roots
roots

rhizoids
rhizoids
Moss

Fern

Gymnosperm

S
p
o
r
o
p
h
y
t
e
(2n)

Angiosperm

18-7

 Reproductive Adaptation to Land Environment

Ferns are seedless vascular plants with a dominant
sporophyte
Water-dependent gametophyte makes it more difficult for
ferns and related plants to spread to and live in dry
environments

Flowering plants are seed plants with a dominant

sporophyte
All reproductive structures are protected from drying out in
the terrestrial environment
18-8

Figure 18.3B a. Archegonium in seedless plants

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

surface of
gametophyte
egg becomes
sporophyte embryo

a. Archegonium in seedless plants

Ed Reschke

18-9

Figure 18.3B b. Ovule in seed plants.

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

tissue of
sporophyte
ovule becomes
seed
egg becomes
sporophyte
embryo

b. Ovule in seed plants

Ed Reschke

18-10

 Other Adaptations to the Land Environment

Spophytes have a cuticle
Covering that provides an effective barrier to water
loss, but it also limits gas exchange
Leaves have little openings called stomata (sing.,
stoma) that let carbon dioxide enter while allowing
oxygen and water to exit

18-11

Figure 18.3C Leaf structures of vascular plants

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

cuticle

stomata

Vascular plant leaves

Have a cuticle and stomata.

Stained photomicrograph
Of a leaf cross section

Falsely colored scanning

Electron micrograph
Of leaf surface
(left): Kingsley Stern; (right): Andrew Syred/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.

18-12

Bryophytes: Non-Vascular Plants

Exs: hornworts, liverworts, and mosses
First plants to colonize land
Successfully reproduce on land because they
protect the embryo & produce wind-blown spores
No true roots, stems, or leaves no vascular
tissue Non-vascular plants
18-13

Figure 18.4A Representative bryophytes

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

sporophyte

archegonium

gametophyte
Hornwort

gemma cup
Liverwort female gametophyte

Moss gametophyte

(hornwort): Steven P. Lynch; (liverwort): Harold Taylor/Getty Images; (moss): Nigel Cattlin/Photo Researchers, Inc.

18-14

In Bryophytes, the Gametophyte is

Dominant
Bryophyte reproduction
Gametophyte is the dominant generation
Female gametophyte produces eggs in archegonia,
and the male gametophyte produces flagellated
sperm in antheridia
Following fertilization, the zygote becomes a
sporophyte
Sporophyte attached to, and derives its nourishment
from, the photosynthetic gametophyte

18-15

Figure 18.4B Moss life cycle, Polytrichum sp.

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
3

developing
sporophyte

Developing sporophyte:
The sporophyte embryo
is retained within the
archegonium, where
it develops, becoming a
mature sporophyte.

The sporophyte:
The dependent sporophyte has a foot buried in female
gametophyte tissue, a stalk, and an upper capsule (the
sporangium), where meiosis occurs and windblown spores
are produced.
Sporangium

Mitosis

Sporophyte
stalk

zygote
diploid (2n)

FERTILIZATION

MEIOSIS

haploid (n)
2

Fertilization:
Flagellated sperm
produced in
antheridia swim in
external water to
archegonia, each
bearing a single egg.

1 The mature
gametophytes:
In mosses, the
dominant
gametophyte shoots
bear either antheridia
or archegonia, where
gametes are
produced by mitosis.

Spores

egg
sperm

Mitosis
foot (n)

Archegonia
archegonium

buds

Spore dispersal:
Spores are released
when they are most
likely to be
dispersed
by air currents.

Antheridia
6

antheridium

The immature
gametophyte:
A spore germinates
into the first
stage of the male
and the female
gametophytes.

Gametophytes

18-16
(top): Peter Lilja/Getty Images; (bottom): Steven P. Lynch

Plant Vascular Tissue

Vascular tissue in plants:
Xylem transports water & minerals UP in the plant.
Phloem transports nutrients DOWN in the plant.

18-17

Ferns: Seedless vascular plants

Ferns, horsetails, and whisk ferns are
seedless vascular plants
Have megaphylls
Broad leaves with several strands of
vascular tissue

18-18

18.6 Ferns have large leaves

called megaphylls
Horsetails

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strobilus

One genus,
Equisetum, and
approximately 25
species
About 300 MYA,
horsetails were
dominant plants and
grew as large as
modern trees

leaves
branches
Gerald & Buff Corsi/Visuals Unlimited

Figure 18.6B Horsetail (Equisetum)

18-19

18.6 Ferns have large leaves

called megaphylls
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Whisk ferns
Psilotum and
Tmesipteris
Epiphytes

sporangium

Plants that live

on/in trees

scale
aerial stem

No leaves

root

rhizome
(Left): CABISCO/Phototake

Figure 18.6C Whisk fern (Psilotum)

18-20

18.6 Ferns have large leaves

called megaphylls
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Ferns
11,00 species
Megaphylls
called fronds
Leaves first
appear as
fiddleheads
2 generations
separate and
independent

spores on
fertile frond

Cinnamon fern, Osmunda cinamomea

frond
(undivided)

frond
(divided)

axis
leaflet

Harts tongue fern

Campyloneurum scolopendrium

Maidenhair fern,
Adiantum pedatum

(cinnamon fern): James Randklev/Getty Images; (hart's tongue): Walter H. Hodge/Peter

Arnold/Photolibrary; (maidenhair): Jeff Foott/Getty Images

Figure 18.6D Diversity of fern fronds

18-21

Figure 18.6E Fern life cycle

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1

The sporophyte:
The sporophyte is
dominant in ferns.

Sori

Sporophyte

frond
Young sporophyte:
The sporophyte
embryo develops
inside an
archegonium.
As the distinctive
first leaf appears
above the
gametophyte, and
as the roots
develop below it,
the young sporophyte
becomes visible.

Dryopterus
leaflet
sporangium
Sorus
young sporophyte
on gametophyte

fiddlehead

The sporangia:
In this fern, the
sporangia are
located within sori
(sing., sorus) on
the underside of
the leaflets.

The spores:
Within a
sporangium,
meiosis occurs
and spores are
produced. When a
sporangium opens,
the spores are
released.

roots

Mitosis

zygote

Sporangium

diploid (2n)

FERTILIZATION

MEIOSIS

haploid (n)
5 Fertilization:
Fertilization takes
place when
moisture is
present, because
the flagellated
sperm must swim
in a film of water
from the antheridia
to eggs within
archegonia.

egg
sperm

Spores
Archegonium
Mitosis
germinating
spore
4

Antheridium

Gametophyte

(Top right): Matt Meadows/Peter Arnold/Photolibrary

The gametophyte:
A spore germinates into a
heart-shaped gametophyte,
which typically bears archegonia
at the notch and antheridia at the
tip between the rhizoids.

18-22

Gymnosperms & Angiosperms

Gymnosperms and angiosperms are seed plants
Seed contains a sporophyte generation, along
with stored food, within a protective seed coat
Ability of seeds to survive harsh conditions until
the environment is again favorable for growth
largely accounts for the dominance of seed plants
today
18-23

18.7 Most gymnosperms bear cones

on which the seeds are naked
Diversity of Gymnosperms
Four groups of living gymnosperms: cycads, ginkgoes,
gnetophytes, and conifers
All have ovules and develop seeds that are exposed
on the surface of cone scales or analogous structures

Conifers
Consist of about 575 species of trees
Many are evergreens such as pines, spruces, firs, cedars and
hemlocks

Economic Value of Conifers

Wood of conifers is used extensively in construction
18-24

Figure 18.7A Gymnosperm diversity

18-25

Figure 18.7A Gymnosperm diversity (Cont.)

18-26

Figure 18.7A Gymnosperm diversity (Cont.)

18-27

Figure 18.7B Pine life cycle

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

1
5

The sporophyte
embryo:After
fertilization, the
ovule matures and
becomes the seed
composed of the
embryo, reserve
food, and a seed
coat. Finally, in the
fall of the second
season, the seed
cone, by
now woody and
hard, opens to
release winged
seeds. When
a seed germinates,
the sporophyte

Sporophyte
seed

Seed cones
Pollen cones

Ovule

Pollen sac
sporophyte
embryo
seed coat

seed cone scale

stored food

pollen cone scale

Seed

zygote
Fertilization:
Once a pollen grain
reaches a seed cone,
it becomes a mature
male gametophyte.
A pollen tube digests
its way slowly
toward a female
gametophyte and
discharges
nonflagellated sperm.
The fertilized
egg is
a zygote.

The seed cones:

The seed cones are
larger than the pollen
cones and are located
near the tips of higher
branches.

wing

Mitosis

The pollen cones:

Typically, the pollen
cones are quite small
and develop near the
tips of lower
branches.

microspore
mother cell

megaspore
mother cell

MEIOSIS

MEIOSIS

Megaspores:
Megaspore mother cell
in ovule undergoes
meiosis to produce
megaspores.One
megaspore will
become the
egg-producing

diploid (2n)
FERTILIZATION

haploid (n)
Pollen grain

Microspores

Mature female gametophyte

Mitosis

egg

Megaspores

Microspores:
Microspore mother
cells undergo meiosis
to produce
microspores. Each
microspore becomes a
pollen grain.

Pollination

ovule
wall

Ovule
Mitosis
Mature male gametophyte
pollen tube

pollen grain

sperm
200 m

The pollen grain:

The pollen grain has two wings and is carried by the
wind to the seed cone during pollination

(Bottom right): Phototake

18-28

HOW LIFE CHANGES

18A Carboniferous Forests

Became the Coal We Use Today
Our industrial society runs on fossil fuels, such
as coal
During Carboniferous period (>300 MYA) a great
swamp forest encompassed what is now
northern Europe, the Ukraine, and the
Appalachian Mountains in the United States.
Enormous amount of biomass
Remains became covered by sediment that changed
to sedimentary rock
With pressure, the organic material became coal
18-29

Figure 18A Swamp forest of the Carboniferous period

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Fossil seed fern

(fossil fern): Sinclair Stammers/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.

18-30

Figure 18A Swamp forest of the Carboniferous period (Cont.)

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Fossil seed fern

club mosses

horsetail
seed fern
early gymnosperm
fern

18-31
(fossil fern): Sinclair Stammers/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc

Angiosperms: Flowering Plants

Angiosperms are flowering plants
Evolved some 200 MYA
240,000 known species
Ovules always enclosed within sporophyte tissue

Angiosperm Diversity
Monocots One cotyledon
Eudicots Two cotyledons
Cotyledons seed leaves with nutrients that nourish
the embryo
18-32

Figure 18.8A Generalized flower

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

stigma

anther

filament

style

stamens

ovary

pollen
tube

ovule

carpel

receptacle

petals (corolla)

sepals (calyx)

18-33

Figure 18.8B Flowering plant life cycle

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Stamen
anther
filament
6 The sporophyte embryo:
The embryo within a seed
is the immature sporophyte.
When a seed germinates,
growth and differentiation
produce the mature
sporophyte of a flowering
plant.
5 The seed:
The ovule now develops into
the seed, which contains an
embryo and food enclosed
by a protective seed coat.
The wall of the ovary and
sometimes adjacent parts
develop into a fruit that
surrounds the seed(s).

stigma
style
ovary
ovule

The carpel:
The ovary at the base of a
carpel contains one or more
ovules. The contents of an
ovule change during the
flowering plant life cycle.

1 The stamen:
An anther at the top of each
stamen has four pollen sacs.

Mitosis

stigma
receptacle
Sporophyte
fruit
(mature ovary)
seed
(mature ovule)

style

Anther
Carpel

ovule
seed coat

ovary

pollen
sac

sporophyte embryo
endosperm (3n)

microspore
mother cell

Seed
FERTILIZATION

diploid (2n)
haploid (n)
(mature male gametophyte)
ovule wall
polar nuclei
sperm
egg

Pollination
pollen
tube
sperm

Megaspores

polar nuclei
egg

Double Fertilization

degenerating
megaspores
Ovule

Embryo sac
(mature female gametophyte)
3 The mature male gametophyte:
A p[ollen grain that lands on the carpel of the same type
of plant germinates and produces a pollen tube,
which delivers two nonflagellated sperm to the female
gametophyte. A fully germinated pollen grain is the
mature male gametophyte.

Microspores

MEIOSIS

is
tos
Mi

pollen tube

megaspore
mother cell

MEIOSIS

Pollen grain
is
tos
Mi

4 Double fertilization:
On reaching the ovule, the
pollen tube discharges the
sperm. One of the two sperm
migrates to and fertilizes the
egg, forming a zygote; the
other unites with the two
polar nuclei, producing a 3n
(triploid) endosperm nucleus.
The endosperm nucleus
divides to form endosperm,
food for the developing plant.

Carpel

The mature female gametophyte:

The ovule now contains the mature female
gametophyte (embryo sac), which typically consists of
eight haploid nuclei embedded in a mass of cytoplasm.
The cytoplasm differentiates into cells, one of which is
an egg and another of which contains two polar nuclei.

2 Microspores:
Microspore mother cells undergo meiosis to produce
microspores. Each microspore becomes a pollen grain.
Megaspores:
Megaspore mother cell inside ovule undergoes meiosis to
produce megaspores. One megaspore will become the
egg-producing female gametophyte.

18-34

HOW BIOLOGY IMPACTS OUR LIVES

18B Flowering plants provide

many services
Humans derive most of their sustenance from three
flowering plants
Wheat
First cultivated in the Middle East about 8000 B.C.
Thought to be one of the earliest cultivated plants

Corn
Maize first cultivated in Central America about 7,000 years ago

Rice
Originated several thousand years ago in southeastern Asia,
where it grew in swamps

About 50% of all pharmaceuticals come from plants

18-35

Figure 18B.1 Species of grains important to humans

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

grain head

grain head

Wheat plants,Triticum

ear

Corn plants, Zea

Rice plants, Oryza

(wheat): Creatas Images RF; (corn plants, rice plant): Corbis RF; (ear of corn): Dorling Kindersley/Getty RF; (rice grains): Dex Image/Getty RF; Corbis
RF

18-36

Figure 18B.2 Uses of plants

18-37

Fungi differ from plants & animals

Structurally diverse group of eukaryotes
Strict Heterotrophs
Unlike animals, fungi release digestive enzymes into
the external environment and digest their food outside
the body

Most are saprotrophs decomposers

Body of most fungi made of a mass of filaments
(hypha) called a mycelium
Cell walls contain chitin
18-38

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Figure 18.9A
Fungal mycelia
and hyphae
nuclei

septum
cell wall

a. Fungal mycelia on a corn tortilla

(a): Gary R. Robinson/Visuals Unlimited

septate
nonseptate
hypha
hypha
b. Cell structure of hyphae
18-39

18.10 Fungi have mutualistic

relationships with algae and plants
In a mutualistic relationship, two different
species live together and help each other out
Mycorrhizal fungi form mutualistic relationships
(mycorrhizae) with the roots of most plants
Lichen a mutualistic association between a fungus
and a green algae

18-40

Figure 18.10 Lichen structure and examples

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

algal reproductive unit

cell

fungal
hyphae

sac fungi
reproductive
cups

Crustose lichen

Foliose lichen, Xanthoparmelia

Fruticose lichen, Cladonia

(foliose): Kerry T. Givens; (fruticose): Stephen Sharnoff/Visuals Unlimited

18-41

18.11 Land fungi

occur in
three main
groups

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4
zygospore

FERTILIZATION

2n
n

MEIOSIS

Sexual
reproduction

Zygospore Fungi

sporangium

Mainly saprotrophs,
but some are
parasites

Asexual
reproduction

germinating
spores

mycelium

(top left): Runk/Schoenberger/Grant Heilman Photography

Figure 18.11A
Black bread mold,
Rhizopus stolonifer

18-42

18.11 Land fungi occur in

three main groups
Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Sac Fungi
ascocarp

Nearly 75% of all

described fungal
species

ascocarp

Cup fungi

Ex: Yeast 1 celled

fungi.

nuclear
fusion zygote

Morel
ascospores

(2n) meiosis
mature
ascus
dikaryotic
hyphae
+ mating type (n)
spore

mating type (n)

spore
male organ
female organ

Ascocarp of the cup fungus Sarcoscypha

(cup fungi): Felix Labhardt/Getty RF; (morel): Robert Marien/Corbis RF18-43

Figure 18.11B Sexual reproduction in sac fungi

Figure 18.11C Asexual reproductive structures in sac fungi

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

conidia
a.

budding
yeast cell
b.

a: David Philips/Visuals Unlimited; b: David Philips/Visuals Unlimited;

18-44

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

nuclei in
basidium

18.11 Land fungi

occur in
three main groups
Club Fungi

fusion meiosis
spores

gill of
mushroom

basidiocarp

Sexual reproduction

Figure 18.11D Sexual reproduction in club fungi

Name comes from the

reproductive structure,
the basidium
The basidia are
located within a
basidiocarp
When you eat a
mushroom, you are
eating a basidiocarp
18-45

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

Mushroom

Figure 18.11D Sexual

reproduction in club fungi
involves a basidiocarp of
which three types are
shown (Cont.)

Shelf fungi

Gaint puffball
(mushroom): Biophoto Assoc./Photo Researchers, Inc.; (shelf fungi): Inga Spence; (puffball): L. West/Photo Researchers, Inc

18-46

HOW BIOLOGY IMPACTS OUR LIVES

18.15 Land Fungi Have Economic

and Medical Importance
Economic Importance
Help produce medicines and many foods
Mold Penicillium was original source of penicillin

Excellent low-calorie meat substitute containing lots of vitamins

Fungal pathogens are a major concern for farmers

Medical Importance
Certain mushrooms are poisonous
Mycoses are diseases caused by fungi
3 levels of infection
Cutaneous-skin
Subcutaneous-affects a deeper level
Systemic-spread through body via blood

18-47

Figure 18C.1 Plant fungal disease

18-48

Figure 18C.2 Human fungal diseases

Copyright The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.

back of throat

tongue
a. Ringworm

b.Athletes foot

c. Thrush

John Hadfield/SPL/Photo Researchers, Inc.; CMSP/Getty Images; Courtesy of the Centers for Diseare Control and Prevention

18-49

Connecting the Concepts:

Chapter 18
Plants
Trend towards gametophyte dependence on a
sporophyte with large leaves and vascular tissue
Angiosperms are the most widely dispersed of the
land plants

Fungi
Adapted to the land environment because they
produce windblown spores.

18-50