BIOA02, module 1:

Plant Form and Function

1-2. Tree of Life - plants
3-4. Plant cells and plant tissues
5. Photosynthesis
6-7. From seed to tree
8-9. From tree to seed
10. Transport in plants
11. Plant nutrition and soils
12. Plant defense
Course instructor module 1
Ivana Stehlik
Professor teaching stream
Department of Biological Sciences
Office: SW563C

BIOB38 Plants and Society

BIOC37 Plants: Life on Edge
BIOC52 Field Ecology
BIOC60 Winter Ecology
BIOA02: Instructors
Mod 1: Ivana Stehlik; [email protected]
(include stehlik in subject line), SW-563C

Mod 2: Stephen Reid; [email protected]

(include reid in subject line), SW-526

Mod 3: Rachel Sturge; [email protected]

(include Sturge in subject line)

Contact us using your official UTSC/UTor email account

Identify yourself: name, course, lab section
Emails from other accounts will not be answered
Lab Personnel
Sajeni Mahalingam
Course/Lab Coordinator for BIOA02
Course administration:
Late enrollment
Drop dates
Missed term tests
Missed labs
Marks management
General advising related to the course as a whole
Laboratory Practicals

All BIO A02 students MUST be registered in a practical section

PRA001 - PRA0044
‘even’ or an ‘odd’ practical → your lab schedule

Check Lab-course syllabus (posted on Quercus) for detailed

practical schedule & rooms

Attendance is REQUIRED
Labs start this week!

ODD numbered practicals start this week (Jan 6-10)!

Even numbered practicals start next week after (Jan 13-17)
Lab 1 is posted on Quercus. Please print prior to coming to
Lab1
Lab manuals will be available for purchase from the
bookstore by the end of the week
Requirements: lab coat, glasses, own manual
Quizzes for my module

Look for detailed info on Quercus

13 quizzes for 12 lectures, worth 3% of your final grade
Hhhm, I don’t understand…
Recommended readings…
Topic not covered in class but in book...
→ not in exam = professorial promise!
Whining student: “Will this be on the exam?”
Your prof will NOT answer this Q: save yourself
the wait time in line!
This is U of T → use your common sense and grey brain
matter

Topic not covered in class but in book?

→ not on the exam

Do the quizzes…
BIOA02, office hours Ivana Stehlik
Module1, Ivana Stehlik
Thu, 7-8 PM on zoom
Fri, 12.30-1.30 PM in TBA
Facilitated study groups FSG!

F
S
G Better
together!
BIOA02, module 1:
Plant Form and Function
1-2. Tree of Life - plants
3-4. Plant cells and plant tissues
5. Photosynthesis
6-7. From seed to tree
8-9. From tree to seed
10. Transport in plants
11. Plant nutrition and soils
12. Plant defense
BIOA02, module 1:
Plant Form and Function
1-2. Tree of Life - plants
3-4. Plant cells and plant tissues
5. Photosynthesis
6-7. From seed to tree
8-9. From tree to seed
10. Transport in plants
11. Plant nutrition and soils
12. Plant defense
Bryophytes Lycophytes Ferns

Gymnosperms Angiosperms
Tree of life - Plants

A. Basal tree of life

B. Bryophytes
C. Lycophytes
D. Ferns
E. Gymnosperms
F. Angiosperms
 Millions of Years

A. Basal tree of life

 Bacteria

Millions of Years
A. Basal tree of life
 Bacteria

Green algae

Millions of Years

A. Basal tree of life

Tree of life - Plants

270,000

900
12,000
1200
100
12,000

6000

Modified from Nickrent et al. 2000. Mol. Biol. Evol. 17: 1885-1985
A. Basal tree of life
Bryophytes:
the basic
descriptors

B. Bryophytes
Liverworts: 6,000 species

Often flattened
Archegonia F

B. Bryophytes
Antheridia M
Mosses: 12,000 species

B. Bryophytes
Hornworts: 100 species

‘Horn’

B. Bryophytes
Characteristics of bryophytes ( vascular plants)
• Small
• Very different life
cycle (different
alteration of
generations)

Otherwise best
described by what
they lack
compared to
vascular plants…
B. Bryophytes
No vascular system
Bryophytes Vascular plants Xylem Phloem

B. Bryophytes
No vascular system
Consequence:
Mosses and liverworts typically are small
→ cell-to-cell passive H2O diffusion, no ‘backbone’ to grow tall

B. Bryophytes
No true roots, only rhizoids (tiny filamentous ‘roots’)
• Good enough for anchoring
• Not great for uptake resources
• No vascular tissue

Rhizoids

B. Bryophytes
No or very limited cuticle
Vascular plants

Moss x-section of leaf

B. Bryophytes
No or limited cuticle in bryophytes
• Quick loss & uptake of water along whole surface
• Adapted to survive total desiccation

Bryophytes generally prefer it WET

B. Bryophytes
British Columbia: Ontario:
1531 mm annual rain 856 mm annual rain

Lots of bryophytes Fewer bryophytes

B. Bryophytes
Imperfect adaptation for terrestrial life

Bryophytes lose (and take up) H2O very fast

→ no cuticle

Bryophytes do not transport water/nutrients very efficiently

→ no vascular system

B. Bryophytes
Generalized alternation of generations

B. Bryophytes
Life cycle of bryophytes (mosses)

Anthe-
ridium Arche-
gonium

M F
B. Bryophytes
 M

Spermatozoids
Self-propelled in
H2O (multiple
flagellae)
Antheridia Antheridium
B. Bryophytes
 F

Egg

Archegonium
B. Bryophytes
Strong water dependence, fertilization

Anthe-
ridium
Arche-
gonium

Spermatozoids:
Thin Typical swimming distance: 2m
water
film M F Measured record: 20 m!
Chemotaxis!
B. Bryophytes
Life cycle of bryophytes (mosses)

Anthe- Arche-
ridium gonium

Zygote → embryo

M F
B. Bryophytes
Growth of sporophyte over time
Spore
capsule

Sporophyte
Seta (2n)
S

Gametophyte
(1n)

G
B. Bryophytes
Life cycle of bryophytes (mosses)

M F
B. Bryophytes
 Spore
capsule
Spore (1n)
Spores
(1n)
Seta
Spore
capsule (Often) explosive spore release
(2n)

B. Bryophytes
Life cycle of bryophytes (mosses)

M F
B. Bryophytes
Protonema (1n)
Young
gametophyte (1n)

Protonema
(1n)

B. Bryophytes
Life cycle of bryophytes (mosses)

M F

B. Bryophytes
General interpretation life cycle

B. Bryophytes
Gametophyte feeds sporophyte

M F

B. Bryophytes
Two mobile life cycle phases
Water-dependent dispersal Wind-dependent dispersal

M F

B. Bryophytes
Interpretation of the bryophyte life cycle
Sporophyte supported by the gametophyte
Male gamete (spermatozoid) self- propelled
over ‘short’ distances (m)
Spores wind dispersed
over potentially
long distances (m-km)

Good video for the bryophyte life cycle (too much detail, however)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kY7uzeYWFc
B. Bryophytes
BIOA02, module 1:
Plant Form and Function
1-2. Tree of Life - plants