Question

Differentiate between gametophyte and sporophyte.

Answer 1

Gametophyte and sporophyte are sexual components of a flowering plant. They play an important role in sexual reproduction by showing maturation at different times, called alternation of generation

Complete answer:

Figure: Alternation of generation
Following are the differences between gametophyte and sporophyte:

Gametophyte	Sporophyte
The gametophyte is a haploid stage in the life cycle of a plant.	A sporophyte is a diploid stage in the life cycle of a plant.
In this stage, the formation of gametes takes place.	In this stage, spores are formed which produces gametophytes.
In this stage, the formation of gametes takes place with the help of mitosis.	In this stage, the formation of spore takes place with the help of meiosis.
There are sets of chromosomes present in gametophyte.	There are two sets of chromosomes present in sporophytes.
Reproduction in the gametophyte stage takes place sexually.	Reproduction in the sporophyte stage takes place asexually.
The gamete of the gametophyte stage takes part in fertilization or they fuse to form a diploid zygote.	The diploid spore mother cell undergoes meiosis and forms haploid meiospores.

- In mitosis, the cells formed after a single division have the same number and kind of chromosome as that of the parent cell.
- In meiosis, the cells formed by two divisions of the parent cell have half the amount of genetic information than that of the parent cell.
- A haploid cell is represented by ‘n’ while a diploid cell is represented by ‘2n’
- In plants, there is an alternation between the haploid and diploid phase of the plant, known as alternation of generation.

Note: When a single cell divides two times to form four cells, such a process is called meiosis. While, when a cell divides only once forming two daughter cells, such a process is called mitosis.