Plant Biology Quiz: Vascular Plants and Ecology

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Questions and Answers

What significant development allowed vascular plants to grow taller and dominate terrestrial ecosystems?

The evolution of vascular tissue (correct)

The ability to produce seeds

The formation of complex leaves

The development of thick bark

What reproductive strategy do ferns primarily utilize?

Asexual reproduction through cloning

Production of seeds for fertilization

Budding from the parent plant

Production of spores that are haploid (correct)

How did early nonvascular plants affect terrestrial ecosystems?

They provided nesting areas for birds

They created ecological niches for other organisms (correct)

They reduced soil erosion significantly

They generated food for arthropods

Why were early land animals like arthropods unable to colonize diverse habitats immediately?

Moist environments were necessary for reproduction Signup and view all the answers

What impact did the spread of vascular plants have on the atmosphere during their proliferation?

Decreased carbon dioxide concentration Signup and view all the answers

What characteristic distinguishes gymnosperms from other plant groups?

Production of seeds not enclosed in fruit Signup and view all the answers

What type of structures did early vascular plant Psilophyton lack, despite having vascular tissue?

True leaves Signup and view all the answers

In the life cycle of plants, what structure develops after fertilization?

Zygote Signup and view all the answers

What are the two main types of yeasts used in brewing?

Ale yeasts and Lager yeasts Signup and view all the answers

Which structures in true plants primarily facilitate the uptake of water?

Roots Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following groups includes flowering plants?

Angiosperms Signup and view all the answers

What is the process called that involves the alternation of generations in plants?

Sporophyte-Gametophyte Cycle Signup and view all the answers

What is the role of phloem in vascular tissues?

Transports sugars from leaves Signup and view all the answers

Which algae group is considered a precursor to land plants?

Charophytes Signup and view all the answers

Which adaptation in plants helps to reduce water loss?

Cuticle Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of xylem tissue?

Transport water and minerals Signup and view all the answers

What defines a seed in seed plants?

An embryo and nutrients surrounded by a protective coat Signup and view all the answers

Which group of plants is characterized by having seeds enclosed in fruits?

Angiosperms Signup and view all the answers

Why are grasses ecologically important?

Their leaves have parallel veins and are wind-pollinated. Signup and view all the answers

What does the term 'gymnosperm' translate to?

Naked seed Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a common feature of all animals?

Collagen and mitochondrial genome reduction Signup and view all the answers

How do monocots differ from dicots in terms of their leaf structure?

Monocots have leaves with parallel veins; dicots have leaves with branched veins. Signup and view all the answers

What does the diversity of gymnosperms include?

Pine, fir, and Ginkgo biloba Signup and view all the answers

Which group of organisms is believed to share a common ancestor with animals?

Fungi Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Diversity of Life

The study of life's diversity is covered in Bio 2e, Chapters 21-29, and optionally Freeman Chapters 26-33.
The hierarchical classification system of life includes domains, kingdoms, phyla, classes, orders, families, genera, and species.

Learning Goals

Students will learn the major branches of the tree of life.
Students will be able to name attributes of major animal phyla and plant divisions (e.g. invertebrates, vertebrates, plant divisions).
Students will identify key groups of non-animal eukaryotes.
Students will identify some major features of the groupings on the tree of life.

Relative Numbers of Named Species

A pie chart illustrates the relative proportions of named species of various groups in the biological world, such as insects (beetles, flies, wasps, butterflies & moths with higher representation compared to vertebrates and fungi).
- Plants/Algae account for 18% of named species.
- Beetles represent 22% of the named species.
Other significant groups include other invertebrates (12%), other insects (13%), fungi (4%), and other organisms (6%).
Vertebrates account for 1% of named species.

Tree of Life/Phylogenetic Tree/Taxonomic Groups

Three domains (Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya) are shown on the tree, and they are derived from a common ancestor.
Eukaryotes like animals, plants and fungi are in the domain Eukarya.
Bacteria and Archaea are prokaryotes.
This visual aids understanding the relationships of various organisms and their common ancestor.

LUCA

Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) was not the first form of life, but rather a survivor lineage.
Various forms of life went extinct early on.

Prokaryotes

Prokaryotes are the most abundant, ancient, and diverse organisms.
They are characterized by the absence of a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles (no nucleus).
This category includes bacteria and archaea.

Bacteria

Proteobacteria, cyanobacteria, Gram-positive bacteria, chlamydias, and spirochetes are major groups of bacteria.

Proteobacteria

Proteobacteria are a diverse group of bacteria.
They include photoautotrophs, chemoautotrophs, and heterotrophs.
There's no taxonomic distinction between "good" bacteria (essential to the biosphere) and "bad" bacteria (harmful to humans).
Pathogenic bacteria exist within many different proteobacteria groups.
Proteobacteria include the ancestors of mitochondria.
Include Rhizobium species living in plant roots, and rickettsias (small pathogens living within animal cells).

Spirochetes

Spirochetes are distinctive bacteria.
They move via spiraling corkscrew motion.
They can be free-living or parasitic.
Syphilis and Lyme disease are caused by spirochetes.

Bacterial Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis has evolved repeatedly in bacteria.
Cyanobacteria are the best-known.
Photosynthetic groups also include purple sulfur bacteria, green sulfur bacteria, and heliobacteria.
Some groups use molecules other than water as electron donors.
An example includes H2S oxidation by purple sulfur bacteria to form S granules (sulfur).

Archaea

Archaea, although little known, are abundant and important organisms on Earth, found in habitats ranging from ordinary environments to extreme conditions.
They are ancient organisms.
This group includes methanogens, extreme thermophiles, and extreme halophiles.
Unlike bacteria, archaea often have introns in their genetic sequences.
Also similar to Eukarya, archaea have histones – proteins that compact DNA strands, unlike either Bacteria or Eukarya who frequently use different approaches to storing and using DNA..

Eukaryotes

Eukaryotes—organisms with nuclei and nearly always with membrane-bound organelles—are a single branch on the tree of life.
Modern studies suggest there are likely 11–20 kingdoms, including formerly classified "protists" like diplomonads and parabasalids.

Endosymbiosis

Mitochondria and chloroplasts likely originated as symbiotic bacteria.
The theory proposes that a prokaryotic cell engulfed another, forming a mutually beneficial relationship.
Evidences are the double membranes, DNA, ribosomes similar to prokaryotes (in mitochondria and chloroplasts).

Viruses

Whether or not a virus is "alive" depends on the definition of "life".
Most viruses contain DNA or RNA.
Viruses hijack host cells' transcription and translation mechanisms to make more viruses.
Viruses lack metabolism and an independent energy source; they depend on a host cell for living processes.

Protists

Protists are mostly unicellular eukaryotes.
There are many different groups of protists, now recognized as separate "kingdoms."
Some groups have acquired photosynthesis independently, becoming "algae," while others have evolved multicellularity.
Some form multicellular associations, like algae.

Euglenozoa

This is a large and significant group of flagellate protists.
Branching off early in the eukaryote evolutionary tree, many are free-living while others are parasites.
Some are photosynthetic mixotrophs, like Euglena.
One important example is Trypanosoma brucei, the cause of African sleeping sickness.

Alveolates

This eukaryotic clade has sac-like membrane structures and similar DNA sequences.
Examples include ciliates, sporozoans, and dinoflagellates.

Ciliates

A group of unicellular eukaryotes that move using cilia.
Cilia are often used for feeding.
They have both a micronucleus (for reproduction) and a macronucleus (for gene regulation).
Many ciliates are free living, while some are parasites or commensals.

Dinoflagellates

Dinoflagellates are important primary producers, especially in marine environments.
They are characterized by a distinctive arrangement of two flagella, allowing them to move.
Most dinoflagellates are mixotrophic, combining photosynthesis with prey ingestion.
They are known for producing potent toxins.

Malaria

Plasmodium is a genus of parasitic protists that causes malaria and infects birds, reptiles, and mammals (including humans).
A dipteran (insect) vector (e.g. mosquito) is required for its life cycle.
There are rounds of asexual reproduction in the vertebrate host inside red blood cells.
Plasmodium is part of the Apicomplexa—an Alveolate group.

Malaria Life Cycle

The malaria parasite has a complex life cycle, primarily involving mosquitoes and humans.
Mosquitoes ingest gametocytes from human blood.
Sporozoites develop from the zygote.
Sporozoites migrate to the mosquito's salivary glands.
When a mosquito bites a human, sporozoites are transferred to the bloodstream, followed by liver infection, and then red blood cells.

Plants

There are 10 extant plants phyla.
Some are nonvascular (e.g. mosses, liverworts, hornworts) while others are mosses.

Nonvascular Plants

Nonvascular plants first appeared sometime in the Silurian period, around 440 million years ago.

Vascular Plants

Plants with vascular tissue (xylem and phloem) evolved somewhat later (than nonvascular plants)
Early vascular plants like Rhynia and Psilophyton were limited to wet areas.

Plants Adaptations to Land

Roots absorb water and minerals from the soil.
Leaves use photosynthesis to produce sugars.
Vascular tissue carries substances between roots and leaves.

Plants Alternate Generations

Plants have a life cycle that involves two alternating phases: sporophyte and gametophyte stages, with each having distinct ploidy (chromosome number)
Sporophyte is diploid (2n), producing spores (n) through meiosis.
Spores develop into gametophytes (n), which produce gametes (n) via mitosis.
Fusion of gametes forms a zygote (2n), leading to sporophyte development.

Ferns

Ferns are seedless vascular plants with diverse species (over 12,000).
They have vascular tissue and produce spores for reproduction which are haploid.
Dominant life cycle stage is the sporophyte.
Mostly tropical and some temperate climates.

Seed Plants

Seeds contain embryos and nutrients, with a protective coat.
They are a crucial group in terrestrial ecosystems.

Gymnosperms

Gymnosperms are a group of naked-seed plants where seeds are not enclosed in fruit.
Conifers (pine, fir, spruce) are a diverse group.
Gymnosperms include cone-bearing trees.

Angiosperms

Angiosperms are flowering plants, with the most ecologically dominant group in terrestrial environments today
Seeds are enclosed within fruits.
Includes monocots and eudicots.

Monocots vs. Dicots (Eudicots)

Distinguishing features based on structure of parts like roots, stems, leaves, and flowers.

Grasses

Grasses (family Poaceae) are an important group of monocots.
Widespread at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Replaced ferns as the most important early-successional plants in many areas.

Animals

Animals are multicellular organisms with homologous cell lineages descended from a single ancestor.
Share a common ancestor with choanoflagellates, fungi, etc, forming a clade called opistokonts.
About 35 major animal phyla have been identified.

Choanoflagellates

Choanoflagellates are a group of single-celled protists.
Morphology very similar to the supposed common ancestor of animals.

Sponges (Porifera)

They are basal animals.
Lack true tissues and organs.
Have a body structure of a gel-like mesohyl between 2 layers of cells.
Filter feeders with flagellated collar cells for creating water currents.
Have regenerative capabilities. Spicules offer support but are not always present.

The Cambrian Explosion

A period of rapid diversification of animal life around 530 million years ago.
Most major animal phyla appeared in this period.
Includes many extinct animal groups.

The Ediacaran Fauna

Ediacaran fauna consisted of a diverse group of organisms that resemble animals (precursors of modern animals).
The appearance of these forms around 600 million years ago reflects the Earth's recovery from massive glaciations.
Characterized by unique physical structures, suggesting probable associations with microbial mats.

Ctenophores

Ctenophores, also called comb jellies, are a group of animals.
Morphologically similar to cnidarians in some ways.
Thought to be an outgroup to other animals like sponges.
They move via cilia.

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Description

Test your knowledge on the significant developments in plant evolution, reproductive strategies of ferns, and the ecological impact of vascular plants. This quiz covers a range of topics including plant structures, life cycles, and more. Perfect for biology students interested in botany and ecology!