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Article: Two theories of origin of the land-plant sporophyte: which is left standing?
- Article from:
- The Botanical Review
- Article date:
- April 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 New York Botanical Garden. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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II. Introduction
Two somewhat conflicting theories (the homologous theory and antithetic theory) of the origin of alternating generations, specifically the origin of the sporophyte, in embryophytes (land plants) have had respective supporters for approximately a century. The question of initial sporophyte development in the land-plant life cycle resides at a much more fundamental level than the question of whether to interpret the sporophytes we observe today as fundamentally "axial" or "phytonic" structures (Wardlaw, 1968). Although one theory or the other of sporophyte origin (homologous vs. antithetic) has at times been favored by various authors (some authors ...