Please help me define this. What I believe it is:
Bryophytes have a one cell thick tissue which allows water to seep through on land. Green algae on the other hand do not, that is why they have to live in water in order to stay moist and alive.
But I want to know what you think it is.
🙂
You are correct. Their epidermal cells had thicker cell walls. The cell walls are very resistant to decay and chemical attacks. The cell walls began to exhibit the traits for support with lignin-like compounds and for resistance to dessication.
Occurrence and evolutionary significance of resistant cell walls in Charophytes and Bryophytes
http://www.jstor.org/pss/2446108
Other factors:
The development of sporopollenin to prevent the desiccation of algae zygotes is switched to protecting spores or, later, pollen. This is an important reuse of a function for the transition to land. Bryophytes differ from algae in that a protective jacket surrounds the multicellular gametangium: Antherida & Archegonia have protective jacket to house gametes.
http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:aGhWR30AXcgJ:www.slic.wsu.edu/bios/biol106/Lecture06notes.pdf+bryophyte+adaptations+stomata&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Mycorrhizal symbioses assisted since there were no roots. The first mycorrhizae evolved with the first land colonizing proto-plant some 450 -500 MYA.
http://berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2000/09/14_funghi.html