Test: Bryophytes - 1 (Old NCERT) - NEET MCQ

- Bryophytes comes under atracheates because do not contain vascular tissue for conduction of water and mineral 

- They comes under Embryophyta because embryostage present in life cycle of bryophytes

- They Comes under Archaehoniata, Archegonium act as female sex organ

- Also called Amphibians of plant kingdom, they require water for process of fertilization without water fertilization not applicable 

- Grown up in humid and hilly areas whereas well as moist soil

- Bryophytes help in ecological succession of bare rock 

- They are multicelluler plant in which true root absent

- their plant body differentiated into rhizoids, stem and leaves in which rhizoids help in absorption of water from the soil

- vascular tissue absent that mean no specialized tissue for conduction of water and mineral 

- They may be aquatic or grown up at damm places

In bryophytes, zygotes donot undergo reduction division immediately. They produce a multicellular body called a sporophyte. The sporophyte is not a free-living but attached to the photosynthetic gametophyte and derives nourishment from it.

The male sex organs in bryophytes are called as antheridia. They are borne on short multicellular stalks. Each antheridium is distinguishable into a stalk and the body. The antheridial body consists of a mass of androgonial cells covered by a 1-cell thick sterile jacket. These androgonial cells give rise to androcytes or antherozoid mother cells. Androcytes give rise to antherozoids. Antherozoids or spermatozoids are bi flagellate structure with a long coiled body. The antherozoids get transferred to archegonia by means of water for the fertilization.

Funaria is known as common moss or green moss or cord moss. The main plant body of Funaria is gametophyte and is of two forms.
(1) Juvenile form (creeping protonema).
(2) Adult form (leafy gametophore).
It is characterized by filamentous setae, a gibbous obtusely pyriform capsule, and usually a double peristome of 16 teeth. Clorella, Volvox and Spirulina belongs to the phylum Algae (Thallophyta).

Class Anthocerotae belong to Bryophyta. They have dorsiventral, thallose plant body with unicellular rhizoids. The sporophyte is cylindrical like a horn with great amount of green tissues, and is partially dependent upon the gametophyte. The Archegonia in Anthoceros are present sunken in the thallus. There is no jacket cells covering the archegonium. The vegetative cells of the thallus provide protection to the archegonium. Cover cells or lid cells are found at the tip of the archegonia. 

Bryophyta includes the simplest and primitive land plants, which are characterised by the persence of independent gametophyte and parasitic sporophyte. They are non-vascular land plants with undifferentiated plant body. the plant body is not divided into true leaves, stem and roots. In all bryophytes the ecologically persistent, photosynthetic phase of the life cycle is the haploid, gametophyte generation rather than the diploid sporophyte; bryophyte sporophytes are very short-lived, are attached to and nutritionally dependent on their gametophytes and consist of only an unbranched stalk, or seta, and a single, terminal sporangium. 

Bryophytes are sciophytes, i.e. bryophytes prefer to grow in moist (wet) and shady places.

Sciophyte: Shade loving plants are called sciophytes. 

Example: Aegle , Nyctanthus.

The male gametes are motile in bryophytes hence they follow zooidogamous fertilization.
(zooidogamous means motile gamete fertilization).

The Bryophytes occupy the position in between algae on one hand and the Pteridophytes on the other. With the exception of few aquatic forms they are truly land-inhabiting plants. They are found in humid and shady places. As water is indispensable for the act of fertilization, they are treated to be the amphibians of the plant kingdom. The gametophyte is highly developed and differentiated from that of a complex Alga. It is an independent plant at maturity. The sexual reproduction is of oogamous type, i.e., it takes place by means of gametes. The male gametes are motile (biflagellate) and known as antherozoids; the female gametes are non-motile and known as eggs (oosphere). The water is essential for the act of fertilization. The motile ciliated antherozoids swim in the film of water and reach to the neck of an archegonium.

Mosses belongs to bryophytes .. and in bryophytes u don't see true roots, leaves, stems etc......instead root like rhizoids , leaf like phylloids,and stem like cauloids are present...

The ‘leaves’ of mosses and ferns were analogous, not homologous, because the former occurred in the gametophyte generation whereas the latter occurred in the sporophyte generation. 

Bryophytes need water as a medium for sexual reproduction .here male gamete are motile,and with the help of flagella they reaches female gamate( which is not motile) and fuses to form zygote whereas in pteridophytes, water is required for for transfer of antherozoids- the male gamate released from the antheridia , to reach to the mouth of archegonium and thus zygote is formed. In both bryophytes and pteridophytes the process of fertilisation cannot takes place in absence of water, they are similar to amphibia animals in requirement of water for fertilisation.