Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Gametophyte
A gametophyte is the haploid structure or phase of life of a sexually reproducing plant. Each cell of a gametophyte contains one complete set of chromosomes. The gametophyte can be the dominant part of the plant's life cycle as in mosses, or very reduced as in ferns and flowering plants (angiosperms), where the female form (ovule) is known as a megagametophyte and the male form (pollen) is called a microgametophyte.
An early developmental stage in the gametophyte of both mosses and ferns (immediately following the meiospore) is called the Protonema.
See also : Sporophyte, Alternation of generations, Archegonium, Antheridium
10-26-2009 08:16:03
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The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details