Antheridia are present in conifers.

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An antheridium is a structure that produces and holds sperm cells in plants.This is similar to a human's testes in that sperm is produced in the structure and stored until needed for reproduction.The male structure in mosses and ferns is made up of the antheridia.The archegonium is a female structure that contains egg cells.

Take a look at the diagram.There is a lot going on here, but notice the antheridia on the right.The sperm goes from the antheridia to the archegonia.

The sperm will be able to flow out when the antheridia opens.During this time there are water droplets that sperm need to swim through.The sperm have whiplike tails that allow them to swim through the water from the antheridia to the archegonium.

The category cyptogams includes bryophytes and ferns.The plants that reproduce via spores are represented by these.Many pollen-bearing plants are evolutionary descendants of these, in that their antheridia have become pollen grains.

Bryophytes are non-vascular plants and do not have specialized tissue for water movement.We put mosses, lichen, and other moist plants in this category.Remember that the sperm cells need water in order to swim to the egg cells, which is why we see mosses in places of shade and water.

Alteration of generations is what plants go through.If you don't spend a lot of time on this, you will understand that there are two separate phases of the plant.There are two phases, one is a gametophyte phase.The main issue here is that during the sporophyte phase of the plant's life, we see cells that are multicellular and diploid, meaning that they all have the same genes.

The plant has to go through a special cell division as it makes new gametes.Sex cells that have half of the plant's chromosomes are produced during this time.This is referred to as a haploid phase.The gametophyte phase is named because we see the gametes forming.The sperm cells in the antheridia of the plant are different from the egg cells inside the archegonia.The diploid organisms are created when the haploid egg and sperm meet.

The main purpose of an antheridium is to simply produce the male gamete, or sperm cell, for the plant.It is supposed to be kept until needed.The gametes that were formed here can stay moist because of this.The gametes are killed by the dry out.Adult men need to keep their sperm cells at a certain temperature if they want them to survive.Sex cells don't allow the organisms to pass on their specific chromosomes.

Let's look at what we've learned.An antheridium is a structure that produces and holds sperm cells in bryophytes, while the female structure is called the archegonium.The sperm cells move from the antheridium to the archegonium using flagella, which are whiplike tails that allow the sperm to swim through the water.This is a characteristic of bryophytes and ferns.The plants that reproduce via spores are represented by these.

Plants reproduce differently than we do.Alteration of generations is a feature they have to get ready for reproduction.They go through two phases.They produce cells through cell division that are diploid and have all of the plant's genes.During the gametophyte phase, the plant begins to go through a process called meiosis, in which it produces sex cells that have half of a plant's chromosomes or DNA.The gametes are produced and stored in the antheridium.They are stored inside of this structure until there is enough humidity to allow the antheridium to open.The sperm can swim through the water and find the plant where the egg cells are stored.A new diploid organism is formed when a haploid egg and sperm meet.

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