Question

The sporophyte of bryophyte is
A. Parasitic
B. Autotrophic
C. Saprophytic
D. Semi Parasitic or parasitic

Answer 1

Bryophytes are the group of non-vascular land plants that are classified into liverworts, mosses and hornworts they are found in the damp environment. The sporophyte of a bryophyte is a simple unbranched structure that consists of a spore forming organ called sporangium.

Complete Answer:
- Bryophytes can be grown in diverse habitats like deserts, high elevations and the arctic. For the uptake of nutrients, the bryophytes do not depend on the root system like the vascular plants.
- They are capable of surviving in the harsh surroundings like the surface of rocks where vascular plants cannot grow. In the life cycle of a bryophyte, they have a dominant gametophyte stage.
- In this stage, the sex organs are produced that developthe gametsand the plant is haploid. Sporophytes produce spores and they are not photosynthetic in nature. For nutrition, they are dependent on the gametophyte (implies that they are parasitic on gametophyte). They are developed in the female sex organ callled archegonia.

Therefore the correct answer is option (A) Parasitic.

Note: Apart from bryophytes in other land plants, the sporophyte is branched and contains many sporangia. In bryophytes, the sporophytes lack the free living existence. They are directly developed from the fertilized egg in archegonia and hence they are parasitic on gametophyte for nutrition. The gametophytes present in these plants are always haploid. The haploid sperms and egg produced by the gametophyte fuse together resulting in the formation of a diploid zygote that later develop into sporophyte.