Which of the following challenges that plants faced in colonizing land could be

Question

Which of the following challenges that plants faced in colonizing land could be considered to have been solved by a change in the life cycle to “alternation of generations”? mitotic multiplication and dispersal of zygotes meiotic multiplication and dispersal of gametes meiotic multiplication and dispersal of female gametophytes mitotic multiplication and dispersal of haploid offspring Which of the following challenges that plants faced in colonizing land could be considered to have been solved by a change in the life cycle to “alternation of generations”? mitotic multiplication and dispersal of zygotes meiotic multiplication and dispersal of gametes meiotic multiplication and dispersal of female gametophytes mitotic multiplication and dispersal of haploid offspring

Explanation / Answer

Option 2 is the correct answer.

Meiotic multiplication and dispersal of gametes is a challange that is solved by alternation of generation in plants. One of the challenges that land plant faced involved bringing sex cells together. In water, sperm are able to swim directly to eggs. On land, this can only happen in moist environments—and this is exactly what happens with mosses and ferns. Other land plants, however, exist away from such environments. Alternation of Generation provided the adaptations required for fertilization to occur in these plants. The sporophyte generation—the adult generation that produces spores— produces microscopic gametophytes within special structures that provide water and nutrients. The male gametophytes, which form non-swimming sperm, develop within pollen grains. The female gametophytes, which produce eggs, develop on scales (in conifers) or within ovaries (in flowering plants). Pollen is adapted to use wind to transport sperm to eggs, which replaces the need for water.

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