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Article: Sporophyte
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- Plant Sciences
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Sporophyte
Sporophyte, which literally means "spore-bearing" plant, is the
diploid
multicellular phase of an organism that displays alternation of generations. The sporophyte phase develops from the fertilized egg, or zygote, by simple
cell division and subsequent differentiation. Sporophytes occur in a few algae and aquatic fungi, and are universal in true plants. They differ greatly in size and level of complexity. In bryophytes the sporophyte is short-lived and permanently attached to the female parent, upon which it is nutritionally dependent. In all other plants, the sporophyte becomes independent of the female parent soon after embryological development is completed and remains ...