CHAPTER 6: EVOLUTION OF FLOWERING 1.

Calyx- outer, generally

PLANTS
- The flowering plants or Angiosperms
are a Monophyletic assemblage currently
considered to be the sister group of the
gymnosperms.
- By far is the most numerous, diverse
and “successful” extant plant group.
- APOMORPHIES OF ANGIOSPERMS
1. Flowers
2. Stamens with two lateral thecae
3. Male gametophytes trinucleate
4. Carpel and fruit
5. Ovules with 2 integuments
6. Female gametophyte reduced
7. Endosperm and double
fertilization
8. Sieve tube members with
companion cells.
FLOWERS
- most obvious distinguishing feature of
Angiosperm
green and photosynthetic,
composed of leaf like
sepals.
2. Corolla- inner, typically
colorful, showy and
odoriferous and is
composed petals, or if
fused corolla lobes.
*Tepal- is often used for such
similar perianth parts and one
may refer to outer tepals and
inner tepals.
* More rarely, the perianth
may consists of a single whorl
or of three or more discrete
whorls.
- Primoridia- bumplike mounds of tissue
formed during floral development.
- Primordia first- sepal
- Primordia second- petal
-Primordia third- stamen

- modified, determinate shoot system - Primordia last- carpel

bearing one or more stamens or carpels
- Primordia may also become flattened
-Stamens- collectively called Androecium resembling leaves.

- Carpels- collectively called Gynoecium - Postgenital fusion- fusion of floral parts

-Bisexual or Perfect- contains BOTH
stamen and carpel
-Unisexual or Imperfect- having ONLY
either a stamen or carpel
after they are formed.
-Arabidopsis thaliana- plant usually used in
studies
-“ABC” Model of floral development

-Perianth- modified leaves at the leaves

of the shoot system

- protects other floral plants

during floral development and functions as
attractant for pollination

-Two whorls of perianth

- Gene products of A,B,C classes combine to
produce the four major floral organs:
Sepals. Tepals, stamens, carpel
- SEPALLATA- class needed in combination
with those of A,B,C classes to effect proper
floral development
- Flower evolved in response to selective
pressure for the transfer of pollen by
animals.
- Animal pollination- primitive condition in
the Angiosperms
STAMENS
- Stamen- male reproductive organ of a
flower.
- Interpreted as modified
microsporophylls, modified leaves that
bears the microsporangia
- Microsporangia- produce microspores
which develops into pollen grains.
- Filament- stalk, bears the anther
- Anthers- pollen bearing part
- Some stamens lack s filament, in which
they are termed sessile.
-Anther is a type of synagium, a fusion
product of sporangia.
- Each pair of microsporangia is
typically located within a discrete half of the
anther called a theca.
- Thus such an anther is
bithecal, with a total of four
microsporangia, tetrasporangiate.
- Anther locule- when two
microsporangia of a theca coalesce into a
single, contiguous chamber
- Anthers of some angiosperms
are secondarily reduced to a single theca
known as monothecal or bisporangiate.
- Adaptive value of stamen is likely
connected with selective pressures for the
flower itself
REDUCED MALE GAMETOPHYTE
- reduced, three celled male
gametophyte
- After each microspore is formed by
meiosis within the microsporangium, its
single nucleus divides by mitosis to form
two cells: tube cell and generative cell
- Generative cell divides once to produce
two sperm cells
- Pollen grains are shed into a two- or
three-celled condition, depending on
whether the generative cell divides occur
before of after the pollen grains are
released.
- If two-celled: generative cell divides
within the pollen tube
 - Siphonogamy- pollen tube grows out of
the pollen grain, In angiosperms the pollen
tube forms immediately after transfer of
pollen to the stigma.
- Sperms of angiosperms are NON-
MOTILE
- Adaptive significance of the reduced
male gametophyte is probably correlated
with the evolution of a reduced female
gametophyte and relatively seed
development.
- Angiosperm male gametophytes are “
lean, apparently requiring a minimum
number of cells and nuclei.
CARPEL
- carpel constitutes a modified,
conduplicate megasporophyll bearing two
adaxial rows of ovules.
- Megasporophyll is modified in that the
margins, come together and fuse with
certain parts differentiating into tissue for
pollen reception and pollen tube growth.
-SPOROPHYL NATURE OF THE CARPEL:
1. It may develop like a leaf, having
an initially flattened, dorsiventral
shape with an adaxial and abaxial
surface.
2. It has veins, typically one in the
middle termed the dorsal and
two others near the carpel
margins termed the ventral.
- Xylem on the adaxial side, Phloem on
the Abaxial side.
-Ascidiate carpel- develops from a ring of
tissue that grows upward, sometimes
assuming somewhat a peltate form.
- Apocarpous- carpels are separate from
one another
- Syncarpous- carpels are fused together
-Gynoecium- totality of the female
reproductive structures in a flower.
Gynoecium parts:
-One or more pistils- each pistil
consists of a basal ovary, an
apical style which may be absent,
and one or more stigmas, tissue
receptive to pollen grains
- Simple pistil- one pistil equal to
one carpel
- Compound pistil- composed of
two or more, fused carpels.
- Adaptive significance of carpel:
 Carpels are the receivers of pollen,
they may function to selectively
control fertilization.
 Incompatability reaction- chemicals
present in the stigma and style may
inhibit either pollen germination or
pollen tube growth. Often occurs
between the stigmatic regions of
different species.
 Carpel pertains to fruit formation
and seed dispersal. Fruit is the
mature ovary or ovaries. Pericarp,
mature ovary wall. If pericarp is
fleshy the seeds are transported
either by passing through the gut of
the animal unharmed. May be
dispersed by wind or water or
mechanically
TWO INTEGUMENTS
- Growth of two integuments during
ovule development, the ovules known
as bitegmic.
- ALL non-flowering seed plants have
ovules with a single integument, termed
unitegmic.
 - Micropyle- small pore at the distal
end, is the site of pollen tube
entrance

- Two integuments contribute to the

seed coat. Two integuments typically
coalesce during seed coat
development, but may form
anatomically different layers

- Adaptive significance is not clear,

but may have enabled the evolution
of specialized seed coat layers.
- Adaptive significance is correlated with
REDUCED FEMALE GAMETOPHYTE developmental timing

- A single megasporocyte within the

megasporangium divides meiotically to
ENDOSPERM FORMATION
form four haploid megaspores.
-Endosperm is the product of double
- Megaspores divide in a sequence of
fertilization
three mitotic divisions, resulting in a total of
eight haploid nuclei - One sperm cell migrates toward and
fuses with egg to produce a diploid zygote.
- Polygonum type- differentation of 8
nuclei into seven cells -The other sperm cell fuses with the two
polar nuclei to produce a triploid
- Micropylar region 3 cells develop: one
endosperm cell.
egg flanked by two synergid cells. Egg
Aparatus termed use for egg plus synergids. - Endosperm cell undergoes repeated
mitotic divisions forming the endosperm, a
-Chalazal region opposite to the
mass of tissue that generally envelops the
micropylar is consist of three cells: 3
embryo of the seed.
antipodal cells.
-Adaptive significance of endosperm is
-Central cell- remaining volume of the
correlated with developmental timing.
female gametphyte which is composed of
Endospermous tissue does not form until
two polar nuclei
AFTER fertilization is achieved.
* Archegonia of angiosperms do not
- Evolution of endosperm may have been
form within the female gametophyte as
conservation of resources.
they do in virtually all other seed plants
- Being triploid enabled the endosperm
- Nuphar/ Schisandra type- 4-nucleate
to develop quicker and also provided
cell condition, having one polar nucleus and
greater potential for chemical variation.
Egg apparatus

- Amborella type- 9 nucleate and 8 celled

condition via an extra mitotic division in the
egg apparatus producing 8 synergid cells.
  Concerns with water and
mineral conducting cells
 Perforation plates- opening
of the vessels at both ends
 Not all angiosperms have
vessels and some basal flowering
groups.

SIEVE TUBE MEMBERS

- Specialized sugar conducting cells

- Sieve cells are the primitive sugar-

conducting cells and are found in all non-
flowering vascular plants

- Sieve tube members were

evolutionarily modified from sieve cells and
are found only in flowering plants.

- Sieve plates- differentiated pores at the

end walls of sieve tube members

-Companion cells- Parenchyma cells

associated with sieve tube members.

- Functions in loading and

unloading sugars into the cavity of sieve
tube members

- Adaptive significance of sieve tube

members is that they may provide more
efficient sugar conduction.

ANGIOSPERM SPECIALIZATION

VESSELS