Biol 441 Study Questions II: Bryophytes and Vascular (non-seed) plants
Bryophytes (non-vascular plants)
1. Do bryophytes form a monophyletic group? Justify your answer.
2. What traits do bryophytes share with other land plants?
3. What type of structures and strategies do the different groups of bryophytes use to
maximize spore production and dispersal?
4. Bryophyte sporophytes have a single sporangium on a stalk, or seta, while vascular
plant sporophytes are branched and therefore hold several sporangia: does that make
bryophyte setae homologous to the branching system of vascular plants? Explain.
5. Explain the process of fertilization in bryophytes. What kinds of structures and
adaptations make this process successful in liverworts, mosses and hornworts?
Vascular Plants
6. What main traits distinguish the non-seed vascular plants (Lycophytes and
Monilophytes) from the bryophytes?
7. Heterospory occurs in two groups of non-seed vascular plants _____________________
and __________________. Is this an example of homology or of convergent evolution?
Justify your answer.
8. Compare and contrast homospory and heterospory in non-seed vascular plants.
How does each of these relate to gametophytes in terms of size, structure,
photosynthetic ability and sex (unisexual/dioecious or bisexual/monoecious).
What may be some advantages of being heterosporous?
9. Liverworts, mosses and hornworts can be dioecious, i.e. they have 2 types of
gametophytes, male and female, does that make them heterosporous?
10. Bryophytes and homosporous vascular plants often produce large numbers of
spores. Give some examples of how this is achieved in each of these plant groups.
Genomics
11. What 3 types of sequence change are most likely to affect morphological
evolution?
12. Define polyploidy: why is it important in the context of the evolution of plant
morphology?
13. Name current model systems for: non-vascular plants_____________________ ,
vascular non-seed plants_____________________________. Provide 3 good reasons why
they make good model systems.