Question

Differentiate between endosperm and scutellum. (Definition, function, in which plants these are present, differences in their working, etc)

Answer 1

Scutellum: it is a seed leaf found in embryos of flowering plants. Cotyledon or scutellum found in monocots is important in food absorption whereas, in dicots, cotyledon’s functions are in both absorption and storage of food. Generally, monocot embryos contain one cotyledon and dicot embryos contain two; however, there are exceptions. Embryos that lack cotyledons are referred to as acotyledonous. Furthermore, there are dicots with only one cotyledon, known as monocotylar or monocotyledonous dicots. Dicots that appear to have one cotyledon due to the fusion of two cotyledons are called preudomonocotyledounous. In some occasions, in dicots, embryo develops more than the normal two cotyledons; it is a condition called schizocotyly while, in gymnosperms, the same condition is known as polycotyledony.

Endosperm is the most common storage tissue in the seed of angiosperms, which originates from the union of a male nucleus and the polar nuclei of embryo sac. The numbers of nuclei that fuse in the central cell determine the ploidy of endosperm. This tissue is completely digested or near so, by growing sporophyte during the embryo development. Therefore, in most mature embryos, endosperm appears to be absent. Usually it persists in mature seeds of monocots while it is absent in mature seeds of dicots. There are three basic types of endosperms exist in floral crops; namely, cellular, nuclear, and helobial.