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What happens to daughter cells after an apical meristem cell divides?
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plant development
The life cycle of the fern. (1) Clusters (sori) of sporangia (spore cases) grow on the undersurface of mature fern leaves. (2) Released from its spore case, the haploid spore is carried to the ground, where it germinates into a tiny, usually heart-shaped, gametophyte (gamete-producing structure), anchored to the ground by rhizoids (rootlike projections). (3) Under moist conditions, mature sperm are released from the antheridia and swim to the egg-producing archegonia that have formed on the gametophyte's lower surface. (4) When fertilization occurs, a zygote forms and develops into an embryo within the archegonium. (5) The embryo eventually grows larger than the gametophyte and becomes a sporophyte.
When an apical meristem cell undergoes mitotic division, the two resulting daughter cells follow different paths to support plant growth:
- Initial Cell: One daughter cell remains within the apical meristem as an "initial." These cells are permanently embryonic, maintaining the meristem as a continuing source of new cells through repeated division.12
- Derivative Cell: The other daughter cell is displaced into the plant body as a "derivative." While these cells may undergo further divisions, they eventually differentiate, changing their structure and physiology to become mature cells that form the primary plant body.2
These derivative cells are typically organized into lineages known as primary meristems—specifically the protoderm, ground meristem, and procambium—which ultimately give rise to the plant's epidermis, ground tissues, and vascular tissues, respectively.132