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Content: LIVERWORTS: As you look at the materials of Marchantiadraw a chart that shows all the relevant structures superimposed on a diagram of the life cycle. Hand this chart in at the end of lab. Liverwort and moss life cycles are nearly identical. Marchantiathallus
Alternation of generations(sporophyte/gametophyte)
Like all plants, the bryophyte life cycle has an alternation of generations between a diploid sporophyte (2n) and a haploid gametophyte (n). In the bryophytes, unlike the other plants, the dominant, indeterminate generation is the gametophyte, whereas the sporophyte is determinate (once formed, there is no further development) and nutritionally dependant on the gametophyte. diploid sporophyte(2n) meiosis produces haploid spores(n)
haploid spores germinate (mitosis) into haploid thallus(n), the gametophyte, which can reproduce asexually by gemmae cupscontaining gemmaeor sexually with gametangiophores. fertilization of egg by sperm produces a diploid zygote(2n) which divides by mitosis into new sporophyte. The male gametangiophore is called an antheridiophore; it grows up from the thallus and consists of a stalk with a flat-topped head.