Question

How many structures listed below are diploid for a typical fern member?

a. Leaf cell

b. Rhizome

c. Archegonium

d. Rootstock cell
e. Sporophyll cell

f. Prothallus cell

g. Zygote

h. Spore
i. Antherozoid mother cell

• A. Nine
• B. Six
• C. Five
• D. Seven

Answer 1

The correct option is B Six

• In fern and other flowering plants, the entire leaf-bearing plant is the diploid cell. Sporophytes bear sporangia that are present exactly opposite to leaf-like appendages called sporophylls, therefore, it also a diploid.
• In pteridophytes, unlike bryophytes, the main plant body is the sporophyte. The haploid gametophyte in the fern is reduced to a small but multi-cellular, inconspicuous, heart-shaped prothallus.
• As archegonium is also a gametophytic body so it is also a haploid cell.
• Rootstock cell is the underground part of the plant also referred to as rhizome or underground stem.
• In ferns, if the rhizome is radially symmetrical, compact and short then it is referred to as rootstock. It is a diploid cell.
• Spores are produced from sporangia by meiosis so they are also haploid.
• Antherozoid mother cell is a sporophytic body which undergoes reduction to form spores.
• A zygote is a fusion of two haploid gametes so it is a diploid.

So the correct answer is (b) six.