Moss Life Cycle: Gametophyte Stages — NEET Biology
✅ Asked in NEET 2023The predominant stage of the life cycle of a moss is the gametophyte which consists of two stages. The first stage is the protonema stage, which develops directly from a spore. It is a creeping, green, branched and frequently filamentous stage. The second stage is the leafy stage, which develops from the secondary protonema as a lateral bud. They consist of upright, slender axes bearing spirally arranged leaves. They are attached to the soil through multicellular and branched rhizoids. This stage bears the sex organs.
The moss life cycle is dominated by the haploid gametophyte, which has two distinct stages: protonema (filamentous, develops directly from spore) and the leafy stage (bears sex organs). Students commonly confuse which stage is dominant in moss versus ferns, or mix up sporophyte and gametophyte roles. Remember: in moss, the GREEN visible plant is the gametophyte, NOT the sporophyte. The protonema is always the first stage developing directly from spores, and the leafy stage later develops from it. This concept is tested because understanding moss reproduction is fundamental to comparing plant groups.
Given below are two statements: One labelled as Assertion A and the other labelled as Reason R: Assertion (A): The first stage of gametophyte in the life cycle of moss is protonema stage. Reason (R): Protonema develops directly from spores produced in capsule.
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