Introduction 
Diversity of mosses has been classified in approximately 10,000 species, 700 genera, and about 110-120 families. This places the mosses as the third most diverse group of land plants, only after the angiosperms and ferns. Mosses are small plants requiring stereoscopes and compound microscopes for routine examination. The conspicuous green leafy shoots are the gametophytes, haploid organisms, on which the diploid embryo develops into a mature sporophyte (Figure 1). The sporophyte is chlorophyllose and photosynthetic only in early stages of development, and it is mostly dependent on the gametophyte. Moss colonies are a very important element in many ecosystems, from the tundra to the tropical rain forest, reducing soil erosion, capturing water and nutrients, providing shelter for microfauna, and nurseries for seedlings in succession or regeneration processes.
As a lineage, mosses are a historically crucial group in the understanding of the transition to life on land. The green leafy shoots (gametophytes) retain some features of the green algal ancestors (chlorophylls a and b, starch, sperm with two forward undulipodia), but the needle-like shoots that produce the spores (sporophytes) display key innovations for the life outside water, such as stomates, a simple strand of conductive cells [in an unbranched sporophyte], and airborne spores produced in a single apical capsule (sporangium). This is the simplest structural level among all land plants. The next organizational level is found in two fossil groups: Horneophythopsida and Aglaophyton (Rhynia) major, where the sporophyte is branched and produces several sporangia. The sporophyte shows the most complex structural organization in the tracheophytes.
Characteristics
There is no controversy that the mosses are monophyletic. Synapomorphies for the mosses are: i) leaves in the gametophyte; these green laminar organs are attached densely along the shoot. ii) multicellular rhizoids; these branched filaments composed of a series of multiple cells develop from the surface of the gametophyte axis at the point of contact with the substrate. iii) columnella; this is a cylinder of sterile cells located in the center of the capsule. (Mishler & Churchill, 1984). Other possible synapomorphies are features of male gamete [spermatozoid] ultrastructure (Mishler, Lewis & et al 1994).
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Life cycle of a dioicous moss
Diversity of mosses has been classified in approximately 10,000 species, 700 genera, and about 110-120 families. This places the mosses as the third most diverse group of land plants, only after the angiosperms and ferns. Mosses are small plants requiring stereoscopes and compound microscopes for routine examination. The conspicuous green leafy shoots are the gametophytes, haploid organisms, on which the diploid embryo develops into a mature sporophyte (Figure 1). The sporophyte is chlorophyllose and photosynthetic only in early stages of development, and it is mostly dependent on the gametophyte. Moss colonies are a very important element in many ecosystems, from the tundra to the tropical rain forest, reducing soil erosion, capturing water and nutrients, providing shelter for microfauna, and nurseries for seedlings in succession or regeneration processes.
As a lineage, mosses are a historically crucial group in the understanding of the transition to life on land. The green leafy shoots (gametophytes) retain some features of the green algal ancestors (chlorophylls a and b, starch, sperm with two forward undulipodia), but the needle-like shoots that produce the spores (sporophytes) display key innovations for the life outside water, such as stomates, a simple strand of conductive cells [in an unbranched sporophyte], and airborne spores produced in a single apical capsule (sporangium). This is the simplest structural level among all land plants. The next organizational level is found in two fossil groups: Horneophythopsida and Aglaophyton (Rhynia) major, where the sporophyte is branched and produces several sporangia. The sporophyte shows the most complex structural organization in the tracheophytes.
Characteristics
There is no controversy that the mosses are monophyletic. Synapomorphies for the mosses are: i) leaves in the gametophyte; these green laminar organs are attached densely along the shoot. ii) multicellular rhizoids; these branched filaments composed of a series of multiple cells develop from the surface of the gametophyte axis at the point of contact with the substrate. iii) columnella; this is a cylinder of sterile cells located in the center of the capsule. (Mishler & Churchill, 1984). Other possible synapomorphies are features of male gamete [spermatozoid] ultrastructure (Mishler, Lewis & et al 1994).
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Life cycle of a dioicous moss
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