Lecture 12 - Gymnosperms

What defines the group that we call the gymnosperms?

Why should we know anything about gymnosperms?

Why was the evolution of a seed important for gymnosperm dominance during the mesozoic era?

What are the main advantages of the seed?

What do terms monoecious, diecious, bisporangiate mean?

How do the micro/megagametophytes form, what goes to the pollen grain, what to megagametophyte, and ultimately to the seed?

What are the main events of the gymnosperm lifecycle?

How is the gymnosperm life cycle different from the angiosperm life cycle?

Evolutionary history of the gymnospermsÖ Especially the character evolution involved!
 
 

Lecture 13 - Angiosperms I

What defines the group we call the angiosperms?

How are angiosperms different from the gymnosperms?

Why should we know anything about angiosperms?

Origin of the angiosperms, and the character evolution that was involved!

Pay also attention to the competing hypotheses and the details that those are based upon!

How did the flower emerge?

Why is the basal position of Ceratophyllum against the dogma of the angiosperm origin?
 
 

Lecture 14 - Angiosperms II

What are the parts of a flower and their respective functions?

What is the origin of the flower parts?

Life cycle! How is this different from the gymnosperm life cycle?

(I hope that the character differences among the four divisions of gymnosperms and the division Magnoliophyta would be explicitly clear to you).

Dicot - monocot: What are they, how do they differ?
 
 

Lecture 15 - Embryogenesis

Nitty-gritties and details of the pollen development!

Nitty-gritties and details of the megagametophyte development!

You only need to recall the embryo sac of the Polygonum type!

Fertilization! Remember to compare (!) the angiosperm and gymnosperm fertilization!

What is the double fertilization?

What are the nuclei involved in the megagametophyte?

What do the sperm cells do, how about the tube cell nucleus?

Embryo development: What are the components in the beginning, what are the components at the end?

What ever happened to the endosperm?

What do the cotyledons do?

What are the stimuli that may launch germination?

Know your dodo! - What is domino effect extinction?

What happens during the germination - in monocots - in dicots?
 
 

Lecture 16 - Primary growth and structure

What are the structural components of stems, roots, and leaves?

How do these stems, roots, and leaves grow?

Know your meristems!

What are the different functions of the modified structures?

What is leaf abscission and how does it work?

What is rhizosphere and why is it important?

What does the casparian strip do?

What are the differences and similarities of the monocot and dicot stems and roots?
 
 

Lecture 17 - Secondary growth and structure

What is secondary growth?

What tissues produce secondary growth?

What are the products of secondary growth?

What are the groups of plants that have secondary growth, how about oddities and exceptions?

What are the evolutionary advantages of secondary growth?

How does the vascular cambium develop during the growth of a plant?

What controls vascular cambium and its development/function?

How does cambium explain the longevity of some plants?
 
 

Lecture 18 - Plant hormones

What are hormones?

How do hormones work?

Keep in mind that hormones interact - with each other, amino acids, organic, and inorganic compounds (Ca2+)!

What are the main groups of hormones?

Understand the six generalizations of the hormones!

What business does Charles Darwin have with auxin?

Auxin - how is it transported, how does it function, and what are its effects on plants private life?

Remember that the rest of the hormone transport is non-polar!

Gibberellins - effects and differences between gibberellin effects and auxin effects!

Cytokinin - effects!

Ethylene - effects, leaf abscission in particular!

Abscisic acid - effects, stomatal closure in particular!

How do the stomata work?