Gametophore

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A plant structure that bears gametes; specifically, a leafy shoot arising from moss or liverwort that produces reproductive organs for sexual reproduction; the phase in the life cycle of certain non-vascular plants responsible for gamete formation
2. In certain bryophytes, a green, leafy shoot that functions as the sexual phase by producing reproductive cells; a structure emerging from the haploid generation bearing gametes; a dominant part of the life cycle involved in sexual reproduction of mosses and liverworts
3. A vegetative shoot in mosses or liverworts that carries the organs for producing gametes; the reproductive leafy plant body in the haploid stage; the component of non-vascular plants that develops gametes for fertilization purposes

Etymology: "Gametophore" is built from two parts that are both recognisable from Greek-derived science vocabulary. The first, "gameto-", comes from Greek "gamete", meaning "husband" or "spouse" in the sense of a partner, and in biology it denotes the sex cell that unites with another to form a new organism. The second element, "-phore", comes from Greek "-phoros", "bearing" or "carrying", the same root that gives us words like "sarcophagus" (flesh-eating, literally) and "pheromone" (hormone-carrying). Put together, the term means "gamete-bearer": the plant structure that produces gametes. In mosses and liverworts, the leafy green shoot grows from the haploid stage of the life cycle and carries the organs that make the sex cells. The word is a modern scientific coinage built from classical roots, so it was made by botanists rather than used by ancient Greek writers.

Synonyms: sporophyte stalk, gamete-bearing stalk