Question

Angiosperms do not need water for fertilization. Why?

Answer 1

Flagellated sperm travel to the ovary inside the pistil

Pollen stays inside the cone scales to fertilize eggs

A pollen tube grows from the pollen grain into the ovary

The sporophytes grow directly from the gametophytes

Answer 2

Any ideas?

Answer 3

the leaves of plant may be having enough water which they do not require for fertilization or the water stored in it will not be evaporated easiliy

Answer 4

Actually, this has to do with the male gametes (i.e. sperm cells) and how they get to point A (the male parts of a plant) to point B (the female parts). Once upon a time, all plants lived in water, so the sperm cells could just swim over and do their business. But angiosperms have conquered land, so they needed to develop a strategy that would allow them to safely transfer their gametes without water.

Answer 5

C

Answer 6

I'm just thinking this because its a way of getting there without the use of water

Answer 7

?

Answer 8

I think you're right. The pollen grains protect the gametophyte and gametes so they can safely travel through the air without drying out and dying, and then when the pollen lands on the female parts of a flower, the pollen tube grows out and transports the male gametes inside. That way, they don't have to swim.

It's actually interesting to compare the sperm cells of really simple plants with more complicated ones. Mosses and ferns both have sperm cells with flagella, and if you see flagella on a sperm cell, you know right away that it probably uses them to swim, and you can't swim without water! Therefore, you know right away that mosses and ferns need water for fertilisation.

Different story with angiosperms and gymnosperms. There is actually one gymnosperm, Ginkgo, which still has flagellated sperm cells, but Ginkgo is a VERY old species, so the flagella are probably left over from a long time ago when they were needed. Other angiosperms and gymnosperms have sperm cells WITHOUT flagella: flagella aren't needed because they have nowhere to swim. Instead, they need pollen tubes! :)

Answer 9

thanks! :)

Answer 10

A quick tip: If you can learn the patterns, e.g. simple plants with flagellated sperm -----> complex plants with sperm that don't have flagella and don't need water, it's WAY easier to keep all the information in your head when you go to write a test (or even do your next homework assignment). When you know the general patterns, multiple choice questions become particularly easy because you can quickly rule out anything that doesn't fit the pattern, even if you haven't memorised the exact answer.