Chapter 38

Angiosperm Reproduction
and Biotechnology

PowerPoint Lectures for

Biology, Seventh Edition
Neil Campbell and Jane Reece

Lectures by Chris Romero

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 • Overview: To Seed or Not to Seed

• The parasitic plant Rafflesia arnoldii

– Produces enormous flowers that can produce
up to 4 million seeds

Figure 38.1
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 • Concept 38.1: Pollination enables gametes to
come together within a flower
• In angiosperms, the dominant sporophyte
– Produces spores that develop within flowers
into male gametophytes (pollen grains)
– Produces female gametophytes (embryo sacs)

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 • An overview of angiosperm reproduction
Germinated pollen grain
(n) (male gametophyte)
Stigma Anther at
on stigma of carpel
Anther Carpel tip of stamen
Stamen
Style
Filament Ovary Ovary (base of carpel)
Pollen tube
Ovule

Embryo sac (n)

(female gametophyte)

Sepal

Egg (n) FERTILIZATION

Petal
Receptacle

Sperm (n) Zygote

(a) An idealized flower. Mature sporophyte Seed (2n)
plant (2n) with (develops
flowers from ovule)
Key Seed

Haploid (n)
Diploid (2n)

(b) Simplified angiosperm life cycle. Embryo (2n)

Germinating
See Figure 30.10 for a more detailed (sporophyte)
seed
version of the life cycle, including meiosis. Simple fruit
(develops from ovary)
Figure 38.2a, b
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 Flower Structure
• Flowers
– Are the reproductive shoots of the angiosperm
sporophyte
– Are composed of four floral organs: sepals,
petals, stamens, and carpels

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 • Many variations in floral structure
– Have evolved during the 140 million years of
angiosperm history
SYMMETRY OVARY LOCATION FLORAL DISTRIBUTION

Lupine inflorescence
Bilateral symmetry
(orchid)

Superior
ovary

Sunflower
inflorescence

Sepal
Semi-inferior ovary Inferior ovary

Radial symmetry
(daffodil)

Fused petals

REPRODUCTIVE VARIATIONS

Maize, a monoecious Dioecious Sagittaria

Figure 38.3 species latifolia (common
arrowhead)

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 Gametophyte Development and Pollination
• In angiosperms
– Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an
anther to a stigma
– If pollination is successful, a pollen grain
produces a structure called a pollen tube,
which grows down into the ovary and
discharges sperm near the embryo sac

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 • Pollen
– Develops from microspores within
the sporangia of anthers Pollen sac
(a) Development of a male gametophyte (microsporangium)
(pollen grain)

1 Each one of the

microsporangia Micro- MEIOSIS
contains diploid sporocyte
microsporocytes
(microspore
mother cells).
Micro-
spores (4)

2 Each microsporo-
cyte divides by
meiosis to produce Each of 4 MITOSIS
four haploid microspores
microspores,
each of which
develops into
Generative
a pollen grain.
cell (will Male
form 2 Gametophyte
sperm) (pollen grain)
3 A pollen grain becomes a
mature male gametophyte
Nucleus
when its generative nucleus
of tube cell KEY
divides and forms two sperm.
This usually occurs after a 20 µ m to labels
pollen grain lands on the stigma
of a carpel and the pollen Ragweed Haploid (2n)
tube begins to grow. (See pollen Diploid (2n)
Figure 38.2b.) grain
75 µ m
Figure 38.4a
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 • Embryo sacs
– Develop from megaspores within ovules
(b) Development of a female gametophyte
(embryo sac)

Mega- 1 Within the ovule’s

sporangium megasporangium
is a large diploid
Ovule Mega-
cell called the
sporocyte
megasporocyte
MEIOSIS Integuments (megaspore
Micropyle mother cell).

2 The megasporocyte divides by

Surviving meiosis and gives rise to four
megaspore haploid cells, but in most
species only one of these
Female gametophyte survives as the megaspore.
(embryo sac)
MITOSIS
Ovule Antipodel
3 Three mitotic divisions
Cells (3)
of the megaspore form
Polar the embryo sac, a
Nuclei (2) multicellular female
gametophyte. The
Egg (1)
ovule now consists of
Integuments Synergids (2) the embryo sac along
with the surrounding
integuments (protective
Key tissue).
to labels Embryo
sac
100 µ m

Haploid (2n)
Diploid (2n)
Figure 38.4b
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 Mechanisms That Prevent Self-Fertilization
• Many angiosperms
– Have mechanisms that make it difficult or
impossible for a flower to fertilize itself
Stigma Stigma

Anther
with
pollen

Pin flower Thrum flower

Figure 38.5
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 • The most common anti-selfing mechanism in
flowering plants
– Is known as self-incompatibility, the ability of a
plant to reject its own pollen

• Researchers are unraveling the molecular

mechanisms that are involved in self-
incompatibility

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 • Some plants
– Reject pollen that has an S-gene matching an
allele in the stigma cells

• Recognition of self pollen

– Triggers a signal transduction pathway leading
to a block in growth of a pollen tube

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 • Concept 38.2: After fertilization, ovules develop
into seeds and ovaries into fruits

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 Double Fertilization
• After landing on a receptive stigma
– A pollen grain germinates and produces a
pollen tube that extends down between the
cells of the style toward the ovary

• The pollen tube

– Then discharges two sperm into the embryo
sac

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 • In double fertilization
– One sperm fertilizes the egg

– The other sperm combines with the polar

nuclei, giving rise to the food-storing
endosperm

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 • Growth of the pollen tube and double
fertilization Pollen grain Stigma

Pollen tube
1 If a pollen grain
germinates, a pollen tube 2 sperm
grows down the style
toward the ovary.
Style

Polar Ovary
nuclei
Ovule (containing
Egg female
gametophyte, or
embryo sac)

Micropyle

2 The pollen tube Ovule

discharges two sperm into Polar nuclei
the female gametophyte
(embryo sac) within an ovule. Egg
Two sperm
about to be
3 One sperm fertilizes discharged
the egg, forming the zygote.
The other sperm combines with
the two polar nuclei of the embryo Endosperm nucleus (3n)
sac’s large central cell, forming (2 polar nuclei plus sperm)
a triploid cell that develops into
the nutritive tissue called Zygote (2n)
endosperm. (egg plus sperm) Figure 38.6
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 From Ovule to Seed
• After double fertilization
– Each ovule develops into a seed

– The ovary develops into a fruit enclosing the

seed(s)

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 Endosperm Development
• Endosperm development
– Usually precedes embryo development

• In most monocots and some eudicots

– The endosperm stores nutrients that can be
used by the seedling after germination

• In other eudicots
– The food reserves of the endosperm are
completely exported to the cotyledons

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 Embryo Development
• The first mitotic division of the zygote is
transverse
– Splitting the fertilized egg into a basal cell and
a terminal cell
Ovule
Endosperm
nucleus
Integuments
Zygote

Zygote
Terminal cell
Basal cell
Proembryo
Suspensor

Basal cell
Cotyledons
Shoot
apex
Root
Seed coat
apex
Endosperm
Figure 38.7 Suspensor

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 Structure of the Mature Seed
• The embryo and its food supply
– Are enclosed by a hard, protective seed coat

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 • In a common garden bean, a eudicot
– The embryo consists of the hypocotyl, radicle,
and thick cotyledons

Seed coat Epicotyl

Hypocotyl
Radicle

Cotyledons

(a) Common garden bean, a eudicot with thick cotyledons. The

fleshy cotyledons store food absorbed from the endosperm before
the seed germinates.

Figure 38.8a

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 • The seeds of other eudicots, such as castor
beans
– Have similar structures, but thin cotyledons

Seed coat

Endosperm

Cotyledons

Epicotyl

Hypocotyl
Hypocotyl

Radicle
Radicle

(b) Castor bean, a eudicot with thin cotyledons. The narrow,

membranous cotyledons (shown in edge and flat views) absorb
food from the endosperm when the seed germinates.

Figure 38.8b

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 • The embryo of a monocot
– Has a single cotyledon, a coleoptile, and a
coleorhiza
Pericarp fused
with seed coat
Scutellum
(cotyledon)
Endosperm

Epicotyl
Coleoptile

Hypocotyl
Coleorhiza
Radicle

(c) Maize, a monocot. Like all monocots, maize has only one
cotyledon. Maize and other grasses have a large cotyledon called a
scutellum. The rudimentary shoot is sheathed in a structure called
the coleoptile, and the coleorhiza covers the young root.

Figure 38.8c

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 From Ovary to Fruit
• A fruit
– Develops from the ovary

– Protects the enclosed seeds

– Aids in the dispersal of seeds by wind or

animals

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 • Fruits are classified into several types
– Depending on their developmental origin
Carpels
Flower
Ovary
Stamen
Stigma

Stamen

Ovule
Pea flower Raspberry flower Pineapple inflorescence

Carpel
Each
(fruitlet) Stigma segment
develops
Seed
Ovary from the
carpel of
Stamen
one flower

Pea fruit
(a) Simple fruit. A simple fruit
develops from a single carpel (or
several fused carpels) of one flower
(examples: pea, lemon, peanut).
Raspberry fruit
(b) Aggregate fruit. An aggregate fruit
develops from many separate
carpels of one flower (examples:
raspberry, blackberry, strawberry).
Pineapple fruit
(c) Multiple fruit. A multiple fruit
develops from many carpels
of many flowers (examples:
pineapple, fig).

Figure 38.9a–c
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 Seed Germination
• As a seed matures
– It dehydrates and enters a phase referred to as
dormancy

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 Seed Dormancy: Adaptation for Tough Times
• Seed dormancy
– Increases the chances that germination will
occur at a time and place most advantageous
to the seedling

• The breaking of seed dormancy

– Often requires environmental cues, such as
temperature or lighting cues

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 From Seed to Seedling
• Germination of seeds depends on the physical
process called imbibition
– The uptake of water due to low water potential
of the dry seed

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 • The radicle
– Is the first organ to emerge from the germinating
seed

• In many eudicots
– A hook forms in the hypocotyl, and growth pushes
the hook above ground Foliage leaves

Cotyledon

Epicotyl

Hypocotyl

Cotyledon
Hypocotyl Cotyledon

Hypocotyl

Radicle
Seed coat
(a) Common garden bean. In common garden
beans, straightening of a hook in the
Figure 38.10a hypocotyl pulls the cotyledons from the soil.

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 • Monocots
– Use a different method for breaking ground when
they germinate

• The coleoptile
– Pushes upward through the soil and into the air

Foliage leaves

Coleoptile Coleoptile

Radicle
(b) Maize. In maize and other grasses, the shoot grows
Figure 38.10b straight up through the tube of the coleoptile.

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 • Concept 38.3: Many flowering plants clone
themselves by asexual reproduction
• Many angiosperm species
– Reproduce both asexually and sexually

• Sexual reproduction
– Generates the genetic variation that makes
evolutionary adaptation possible

• Asexual reproduction in plants

– Is called vegetative reproduction
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 Mechanisms of Asexual Reproduction
• Fragmentation
– Is the separation of a parent plant into parts
that develop into whole plants
– Is one of the most common modes of asexual
reproduction

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 • In some species
– The root system of a single parent gives rise to
many adventitious shoots that become
separate shoot systems

Figure 38.11

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 Vegetative Propagation and Agriculture
• Humans have devised various methods for
asexual propagation of angiosperms

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 Clones from Cuttings
• Many kinds of plants
– Are asexually reproduced from plant fragments
called cuttings

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 Grafting
• In a modification of vegetative reproduction
from cuttings
– A twig or bud from one plant can be grafted
onto a plant of a closely related species or a
different variety of the same species

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 Test-Tube Cloning and Related Techniques
• Plant biologists have adopted in vitro methods
– To create and clone novel plant varieties

(a) Just a few parenchyma cells from a (b) The callus differentiates into an entire
carrot gave rise to this callus, a mass plant, with leaves, stems, and roots.
of undifferentiated cells.
Figure 38.12a, b
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 • In a process called protoplast fusion
– Researchers fuse protoplasts, plant cells with
their cell walls removed, to create hybrid plants

Figure 38.13 50 µ m
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 • Concept 38.4: Plant biotechnology is
transforming agriculture
• Plant biotechnology has two meanings
– It refers to innovations in the use of plants to
make products of use to humans
– It refers to the use of genetically modified (GM)
organisms in agriculture and industry

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 Artificial Selection
• Humans have intervened
– In the reproduction and genetic makeup of
plants for thousands of years

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 • Maize
– Is a product of artificial selection by humans

– Is a staple in many developing countries, but is

a poor source of protein

Figure 38.14

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 • Interspecific hybridization of plants
– Is common in nature and has been used by
breeders, ancient and modern, to introduce
new genes

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 Reducing World Hunger and Malnutrition
• Genetically modified plants
– Have the potential of increasing the quality and
quantity of food worldwide
Genetically modified rice

Ordinary rice
Figure 38.15 Figure 38.16
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 The Debate over Plant Biotechnology
• There are some biologists, particularly
ecologists
– Who are concerned about the unknown risks
associated with the release of GM organisms
(GMOs) into the environment

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 Issues of Human Health
• One concern is that genetic engineering
– May transfer allergens from a gene source to a
plant used for food

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 Possible Effects on Nontarget Organisms
• Many ecologists are concerned that the
growing of GM crops
– Might have unforeseen effects on nontarget
organisms

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 Addressing the Problem of Transgene Escape
• Perhaps the most serious concern that some
scientists raise about GM crops
– Is the possibility of the introduced genes
escaping from a transgenic crop into related
weeds through crop-to-weed hybridization

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 • Despite all the issues associated with GM
crops
– The benefits should be considered

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