PLANT BIOLOGY LABORATORY

PHYLUM MAGNOLIOPHYTA: ANGIOSPERMS THE FLOWERING PLANTS The flower characterizes angiosperms. The following diagram shows all the parts of a flower: the sepals, which all together comprise the calyx; the petals, which all together comprise the corolla. In some flowers, the sepals or petals may be united into an undivided calyx or corolla. The stamens, or male reproductive structures, form the androecium, and the female reproductive structure, form the pistil. Stamens consist of a stalk or filament and pollen bearing anther. In some flowers, the filaments may be fused together or to the petals and usually surround the pistil. The pistil consists of a stigma that may be knoblike, forked, feathery, or pointed; a neck-like style that can be long and slender to short and stubby; an ovary, which is usually swollen and contains the ovule or ovules. There are two classes of angiosperms: the Monocots and the Dicots. In Monocot flowers, have their parts in sets of threes or multiples of three, while in Dicots, flower parts are present in fours, fives or multiples of these numbers. Calyx and corolla are attached to the expanded tip of the flower stalk (peduncle or pedicel) known as the receptacle.

Sometimes the sepals and petals are of the same size and color. Other times the flowers are tiny and accommodated all together in a receptacle forming what it appears

to be a single flower, but which in reality is a group of tiny flowers forming what is known as the inflorescence. In the sunflower family the tiny flowers have very small fused corollas and stamens, but those around the margin each have a large flattened, petallike extension of their corolla. In other families, the stamens and pistil are in separate flowers (pumpkin family); in other families, such as the buttercup family, there may be more than one pistil to a flower. In the maple family, "female" flowers are present only in one plant, while "male" flowers are carried on different plants.

Notice the stamens at the base of the flower of this Cucurbita (pumpkin)

Female flower of Cucurbita. Notice the pistil surrounded by the petals

Notice the parts of the stamen: filament and its four-chambered anther; it is in this chambers that pollen is formed. The pistil shows clearly ovary, which is the the ovule carrying structure, as well as the style, and the stigma (pollen receiving structure).

Study the flowers and notice that each of these two different flowers have more than pistil. In the following picture, you will see the dissection of one of these flowers which clearly shows the several pistils.

A.

B.

A. Longitudinal section of Cucurbita, showing the compound pistil. B. Sunflower inflorescence. Notice the tiny flowers occupying most of the receptacle and the peripheral flowers with their expanded corolla, responsible for the appearance of the inflorescence as a single flower.

Development of the Male Gametophyte. Before the anthers mature, their microsporocytes undergo meiosis, producing four cells (tetrads) of microspores. Each microspore undergoes one mitotic division, thus two nuclei. Then the cells of the tetrad separate and their walls become sculptured; two nucleated cell is now known as a pollen grain. As the anther matures, the adjacent chamber walls break down leaving only two pollen sacs, from which pollen grains are released through slits or pores. Pollination (the transfer from the anther of one flower onto a separate flower of a different plant) then takes place. Once pollen has been deposited on the stigma, a pollen tube protrudes from the pollen grain and, following a chemical gradient released by the embryo sac (within the ovule). The pollen tube grows down the style to the ovary and enters the ovule through the micropyle (a small opening). As the pollen tube grows, one of the two nuclei in the pollen grain, the tube nucleus, remains near the tip, while the other nucleus (generative nucleus) lags behind. Sometimes the generative nucleus divides in the pollen grain, forming two male gametes or sperms, but this particular mitotic division often takes place right in the pollen tube while it is growing. The germinated pollen grain, with its pollen tube containing two sperm nuclei, constitutes the mature male gametophyte.

A.

B.

A. Diagram of a pollen grain. B. Lilium pollen grain, showing the generative nucleus and the tube nucleus. Development o the Female Gametophyte In each ovule, the megasporocytic tissue, undergoes meiosis, each megasporocyte producing four haploid megaspores. Usually three megaspores degenerate and the remaining become larger as its nucleus divides three successive divisions, resulting in eight nuclei. This eight nucleated cells within the ovule is the female gametophyte. One of the eight nuclei, normally located toward the bottom of the female gametophyte, functions as the female gamete or egg; each egg is flanked by two synergid nuclei. If the egg is damaged, either of the synergids can substitute as the egg. On the opposite side of the gametophyte, are three nonfunctional antipodal nuclei; in the center of the female gametophyte, two central nuclei which sometimes fuse together.

When the ovule mature, the diploid cells surrounding it, have developed two layers of cells, forming the integuments, which will later become the seed coat of a seed. After pollination and growth of the pollen tube has occurred, the contents of the pollen tube are discharged into the embryo sac. The process of double fertilizations follows and involves the union of one sperm cell with the egg cell, forming a zygote, and the union of the other sperm cell with the central polar nuclei, forming the endosperm, a triploid (3 n -three sets of chromosomes) cell, which will divide by mitosis to form the endosperm. Double fertilization is unique to angiosperms, and the endosperm is the tissue from which the embryo will feed from. The integuments (outer layers of the ovule) harden and form a seed coat, the outermost covering of a seed. The seeds mature within the ovary, and the ovary grows and matures into a fruit. In the following first picture (A), notice the development of a pepper. The first picture in the series shows a flower; the ovary is still attached to the corolla. In the reminder of the pictures the corolla has been removed or has fallen. In the second picture (B) you can follow the development of a pineapple. Notice the small inflorescence and how the ovaries mature and later fuse to form the whole pineapple.

. A. Pepper development

B. Pineapple development. Young inflorescence