Plant Biology Final

If they are 'seedless', how do plants reproduce?

They reproduce using spores

Lycophytes have microphylls. What does this mean?

They are single-veined

What is the connection between seedless vascular plants and coal?

Lycophytes help form coal deposits

Some lycophytes produce large spores and small spores. What is the difference in the fate of

these two sizes of spores?

The large spores form female gametophytes while the small ones form male gametophytes

In what habitat can you commonly find club moss lycophytes?

Shady habitats such as the forest floor.

Although whisk ferns, horsetails and ferns are in the same phylum, they have distinct

differences in their appearance. How do whisk ferns and horsetails look different than

common ferns?

Whisk ferns have no leaves or roots. Horsetails have jointed stems and small leaves, along with silica in their stems

In what kind of structures are spores produced and where can these structures be located in

seedless vascular plants?

What do fern gametophytes look like (size and shape)?

Why would seeds be a more advantageous way of reproducing compared to spores?

What are the similarities and differences in the life cycle of gymnosperms and flowering

plants?

What characteristics distinguish conifers from the non-seed plants (e.g. ferns)?

What is the purpose of a male cone on a conifer?

Where does the pollen need to land on a conifer tree? Explain what happens after the pollen

lands, including the time it takes the female cone to mature to a point where the seeds

can be released.

Besides coniferous trees, what other plants are gymnosperms (i.e. representatives of other

gymnosperm phyla)?

When did flowering plants become the dominant plant group on earth and what role did

polyploidy play?

What group of animals diversified at the same time as flowering plants?

What is the outcome of double fertilization in flowering plants?

Be able to list at least 4 features that could be used to differentiate a monocot from a dicot.

What are basal anthophytes and magnoliids? Be able to give at least one example for each.

When considering these four plant groups; true mosses, ferns, gymnosperms, flowering plants:

1. Which groups have vascular tissue?

2. Which groups have swimming sperm?

3. Which groups produce spores?

4. In which groups does the gametophyte consist of only a few cells?

Explain how fungi are different from plants in body form, feeding mode and cell wall structure.

What is a mycelium and a fruiting body and what is the purpose of each?

There aren’t male and female fungi so how does sexual reproduction occur?

What is external digestion?

How are bread molds different from club and sac fungi?

Give some examples of club fungi fruiting bodies and describe where the spores would be

produced on the body.

Yeast and Penicillium are members of which fungus phylum?

Give some examples of human ailments, plant diseases and wildlife diseases caused by fungi.

What group of animals can be harmed by water molds (chytrids)?

What are the three ecological roles of fungi discussed in class?

What benefit does each member of lichen receive?

Describe the interactions that can occur through a mycorrhizal network.

How does the ghost pipe plant, which occurs locally, interact with fungi?

Compare the structure and role of cellulose and starch in plant cells.

What is a secondary metabolite? Be able to give examples of the functions of secondary

metabolites in a plant.

What is the role of chlorophyll and other photosynthetic pigments in the process of

photosynthesis?

List the things required (inputs) and the products of the light reactions of photosynthesis

and the Calvin cycle.

What is photorespiration and why is it bad for plants? Describe how C4 and CAM plants

can avoid photorespiration under hot and/or dry conditions.

What is the main purpose of cellular respiration? What is the role of oxygen in this

process?

What is the purpose of meristems in plants, what kinds are there and where can they be

found?

Auxin and ethylene are two important plant hormones. Describe the roles of each in a

plant.

What is photoperiod? Give at least one example of an event in the life cycle of a flowering

plant that is triggered by photoperiod.

Exactly where do water and materials enter the root? What is the role of the endodermis in

the root?

Which macronutrient elements must plants obtain from the soil?

How/Why can clay and humus increase the nutrient holding capacity of soil?

What is the rhizosphere and how is the root involved in maintaining it?

What are the mechanisms that can “pull water up a plant” when transpiration is occurring?

Why do plants need to move water upward? What other things can be moving in xylem?

Describe the shape of phloem cells and explain the pressure flow hypothesis of sugar

movement in phloem.

What cell types make up wood versus bark? When tapping a maple tree, how far in do you

need to insert the tap to get to the sap (i.e. secondary phloem)?

What is the purpose of pollen?

Be able to describe at least one major ecological role of algae.