Question

Differentiate between antheridia and archegonia.

Answer 1

Hint: Antheridia is the male sex organ, and is a haploid structure whose function is to produce male gametes called antherozoids or sperms. Archegonia is the female sex organ, which produces female gametes mainly in cryptogams. It is responsible for the production of female gametes that are egg cells or ova.

Complete answer:

SL No.	Antheridia	Archegonia
1.	It is a club-shaped structure born on a short multicellular stalk.	They are mainly multicellular.
2.	An antheridium has a sterile jacket enclosing a large number of cubic spermatozoic sperm mother cells.	An archegonium is a flask-shaped structure raised on a short stalk. It consists of two parts.-The venter enclosing the egg cell and a venter canal cell.-The neck-long and composed of six vertical rows of neck cells enclosing neck canal cells.
3.	Each spermatozoid mother cell gives rise to a minute biflagellate sperm. At the apex of antheridia is a large specialized cell.	Mature archegonia secrete a sugar solution at its tip that attracts the sperms.
4.	The antheridia are mixed with sterile paraphyses terminating into a large globose cell.	The archegonia are intermixed with paraphysis terminating into large pointed ends.
5.	The gametophyte of ferns, bryophytes, and algae contains antheridia. Antheridia are reduced to form a pollen grain in both angiosperms and gymnosperms, being a single generative cell.	In gymnosperms, archegonia are much-reduced structures embedded in megagametophytes. Archegonia in both gymnosperms and cryptograms produce a single egg cell.
6.	The male gametes or sperms are motile in cryptogams, and therefore, they require water for undergoing fertilization.	Usually, the ovum is not motile at all. Typically, the motile male gametes swim through the water films to enter into the archegonia.

Note: Antheridia are reduced to form a pollen grain in both angiosperms and gymnosperms, being a single generative cell. Furthermore, antheridium is a club-shaped structure with two components: sterile cells and the spermatogenous tissue. Basically, the sterile cells serve as a protective jacket, forming a central support structure. Meanwhile, the spermatogenous tissue undergoes mitosis to produce spermatids.