Wednesday: Plant Diversity and Fungi!

• Test Corrections are due Tuesday, April 12th.
• Diversity Take Home Test Questions #1-20 only are due on Friday!!  If you will be gone on Friday you need to somehow get me your answers before you leave to receive full credit!

1.  We finished going over the Reading Guide for Chapters 29 and 30 with a discussion of evolutionary adaptations between plant groups.  Each of the bullet points below lists an advancement over the group prior.

• Charophyceans have peroxisomes to reduce photorespiration (increase efficiency of photosynthesis) and have chlorophyll b, which is less susceptible to UV bleaching.
• Bryophytes have jacketed (protected) gametangia in the form of archegonia and antheridia to protect the gametes from UV damage.  They also have a cuticle and air spaces to protect from desiccation.
• Lycophytes have a vascular system that supports the plant and increases efficiency of water and nutrient transport.  They also have a dominant sporophyte stage which reduces the effect of UV mutations on gametes.
• Pterophytes have rhizomes, which are a subterranean horizontal stem with small "roots" and shoots.  They also have an increased photosynthetic surface.
• Gymnosperms have pollen, which removes the need for water to transport the sperm.  In addition they have a seed which is to prevent desiccation and protect the embryo until growing conditions are right and it provides nutrition for the early growth of the embryo.
• Angiosperms have a flower which serves to attract pollinators, thus increasing diversity and fertilization rate.  They also produce fruits, which aid in dispersal of seeds by attracting animals.

2.  I then shared the 2005 FRQ on this topic which reads:

Angiosperms (flowering plants) have wide distribution in the biosphere and the largest number of species in the plant kingdom.

a)      Discuss the function of FOUR structures for reproduction found in angiosperms and the adaptive (evolutionary) significance of each.

b)      Mosses (bryophytes) have not achieved the widespread terrestrial success of angiosperms.  Discuss how the anatomy and reproductive strategies of mosses limit their distribution.

c)       Explain alternation of generations in either angiosperms or mosses.

We went through the rubric together.

3.  The rest of the class time was dedicated to Kingdom Fungi.  The 3 most critical slides are below.