Question

What is a gametophyte and what is a sporophyte?

Answer 1

Gametophyte:

1. The gametophyte is a stage in the life cycle that is found in all plants and certain species of algae.
2. There are two types of gametophytes: Male gametophyte and female gametophyte.

Male gametophyte:

1. The male gametophytes develop from the pollen grains.
2. The first gametophytic structure is to transform the microsporangium mother cells of microspores into pollen grains.
3. Pollen grains grow into male gametophytes during germination, which occurs before pollination.

Female gametophyte:

1. Female gametophytes are the large and multicellular structures of flowering plants.
2. The female gametophyte develops from the megaspores.
3. Megaspore on development to mature ova, after fertilization it nourishes the growing embryo.

Sporophyte:

1. A diploid phase in the life cycle of a plant and some algae is known as sporophyte.
2. Sporophyte develops from the zygote and produces spores by meiosis.
3. The spores then develop into haploid gametophyte.
4. Example: A mature fern plant is an example of sporophyte.