I’m currently learning about plant bio, but I don’t understand anything. First off, I don’t understand the difference between spores and sperm/egg. Like they’re both haploid, so what’s the difference between those in terms of their function? Like in my textbook, it says for example, that seedless tracheophytes reproduces by spores and that it has a motile sperm. I’m confused here because I thought sperm and spore are supposed to be the same thing. Aren’t they both for reproduction?
Also what is difference between reproducing by spores (seedless tracheophytes) and reproducing by seeds (seed-bearing tracheophytes)? Like besides the fact that one is spore and the other is seed, what’s the difference?
In: Biology
The spores of tracheophytes are fertilized outside the body of the parent. More advanced plants have fertilization occur within the parent. If an ovule or a pollen grain were to land on some fertile soil, it would just sit there and eventually die, because they depend on the adult plant to keep them alive long enough to combine and turn into a seed, because they rely on the energy that the parent provides to grow.
A spore, on the other hand, is hardy enough to survive on its own and develop into a small gametophyte capable of reproducing with other gametophytes to produce a new mature sporophyte. They take their energy directly from the surrounding environment instead of having it delivered by the parent plant.
Both strategies have their advantages, depending on the environment. In areas that don’t consistently have ideal conditions, seeds are the better option because they can wait things out until they’re right for germination. But, in areas that consistently have a moist and nutritious period every year, spores are better because the parent doesn’t have to use up valuable energy and raw materials into producing huge seeds that might be tasty to passing animals.
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