AISSCE – 2024-25

NARAYANA SCHOOL

PROJECT NAME: Biology Project

NAME: SOUNAV BISWAS
ROLL NO:
Board Registration NO:
CLASS: XII-SCIENCE
SUB: BIOLOGY (044)
 DECLARATION
I, the undersigned hereby declare that the project
entitled BIOLOGY PROJECT submitted by me to
Narayana school for AISSCE-2024-25 is done by
me under the guidance of my biology teacher

PGT Biology is my original work and interpretation

drawn therein are based on material collected by
myself
 CERTIFICATE

Certify that the biology file is a bona fide work is

done by me during session 2024-25

Roll No:

………………………………….
EXTERNAL EXAMINER

………………………………….
INTERNAL EXAMINER
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I extend my sincere and heartfelt gratitude towards
my teacher who guided and encouraged me
throughout, and helped me complete successfully. I
would also like to thank Principal Ma’am, for
always extending a helping hand to us. Lastly, I
would thank the Narayan School, Newtown for
giving me the opportunity to work on this project.

SUBMITTED BY: Sounav Biswas

 INTRODUCTION
Botany is the science of plants. Studying plant
classification principals and how they related to the
evolutionary process of the plant is the first step
in order to establish strategies for plant
conservation. The molecular properties of plant life
play a vital role in plant survival and evolution.
They help the plant to resist the threats and
challenges such as human population and
activities, climate change, and pollution. Some
treaties and organizations have established
strategies to overcome threat effects on plants. The
methods that plant species are preserved and
recorded for the future are vital to understand how
these processes relevance to biodiversity. It’s also
essential for scientists to know the past, present,
and future of the botanical life. In this project we
will explore the importance of seed and food
germination.
 SEED

In botany, a seed is
a plant embryo and food reserve enclosed in a
protective outer covering called a seed coat (Testa).
More generally, the term "seed" means anything
that can be sown, which may include seed and
husk or tuber. Seeds are the product of the ripened
ovule, after the embryo sac is fertilized by sperm
from pollen, forming a zygote. The embryo within a
seed develops from the zygote and grows within the
mother plant to a certain size before growth is
halted.
The formation of the seed is the defining part of the
process of reproduction in seed plants
(spermatophytes). Other plants such as ferns,
mosses and liverworts, do not have seeds and use
water-dependent means to propagate themselves.
Seed plants now dominate biological niches on
land, from forests to grasslands both in hot and
cold climates.
In the flowering plants, the ovary ripens into a fruit
which contains the seed and serves to disseminate
it. Many structures commonly referred to as "seeds"
are actually dry fruits. Sunflower seeds are
sometimes sold commercially while still enclosed
within the hard wall of the fruit, which must be split
open to reach the seed. Different groups of plants
have other modifications, the so-called stone fruits
(such as the peach) have a hardened fruit layer (the
endocarp) fused to and surrounding the actual
seed. Nuts are the one-seeded, hard-shelled fruit of
some plants with an indehiscent seed, such as an
acorn or hazelnut.
 SEED FORMATION

Stages of seed development:

I Zygote IV Heart
II Proembryo V Torpedo
III Globular VI Mature Embryo

Angiosperm seeds are "enclosed seeds", produced

in a hard or fleshy structure called a fruit that
encloses them for protection. Some fruits have
layers of both hard and fleshy material. In
gymnosperms, no special structure develops to
enclose the seeds, which begin their development
"naked" on the bracts of cones. However, the seeds
do become covered by the cone scales as they
develop in some species of conifer.
Angiosperm (flowering plants) seeds consist of three
genetically distinct constituents:
(1) the embryo formed from the zygote,
(2) the endosperm, which is normally triploid,
(3) the seed coat from tissue derived from the
maternal tissue of the ovule.
In angiosperms, the process of seed development
begins with double fertilization, which involves the
fusion of two male gametes with the egg cell and
the central cell to form the primary endosperm and
the zygote. Right after fertilization, the zygote is
mostly inactive, but the primary endosperm divides
rapidly to form the endosperm tissue. This tissue
becomes the food the young plant will consume
until the roots have developed after germination.

Ovule

After fertilization, the

ovules develop into the seeds. The ovule consists of
a number of components:
 The funicle (funiculus, funiculi) or seed stalk
which attaches the ovule to the placenta and
hence ovary or fruit wall, at the pericarp.
  The nucellus, the remnant of the
megasporangium and main region of the ovule
where the megagametophyte develops.
 The micropyle, a small pore or opening in the
apex of the integument of the ovule where the
pollen tube usually enters during the process
of fertilization.
 The chalaza, the base of the ovule opposite the
micropyle, where integument and nucellus are
joined.
The shape of the ovules as they develop often
affects the final shape of the seeds. Plants
generally produce ovules of four shapes: the
most common shape is called anatropous, with a
curved shape. Orthotropous ovules are straight
with all the parts of the ovule lined up in a long
row producing an uncurved seed.
Campylotropous ovules have a curved
megagametophyte often giving the seed a tight
"C" shape. The last ovule shape is called
amphidromous, where the ovule is partly
inverted and turned back 90 degrees on its stalk
(the funicle or funiculus).
In the majority of flowering plants, the zygote's first
division is transversely oriented in regards to the
long axis, and this establishes the polarity of the
embryo. The upper or chalaza pole becomes the
main area of growth of the embryo, while the lower
or micropylar pole produces the stalk-like suspensor
that attaches to the micropyle. The suspensor
absorbs and manufactures nutrients from the
endosperm that are used during the embryo's
growth.
Embryo

The main components of the

embryo are:
 The cotyledons, the seed leaves, attached to
the embryonic axis. There may be one
(Monocotyledons), or two (Dicotyledons). The
cotyledons are also the source of nutrients in
the non-endospermic dicotyledons, in which
case they replace the endosperm, and are thick
and leathery. In endospermic seeds, the
cotyledons are thin and papery. Dicotyledons
have the point of attachment opposite one
another on the axis.
 The epicotyl, the embryonic axis above the
point of attachment of the cotyledon(s).
 The plumule, the tip of the epicotyl, and has a
feathery appearance due to the presence of
 young leaf primordia at the apex, and will
become the shoot upon germination.
 The hypocotyl, the embryonic axis below the
point of attachment of the cotyledon(s),
connecting the epicotyl and the radicle, being
the stem-root transition zone.
 The radicle, the basal tip of the hypocotyl,
grows into the primary root.
Monocotyledonous plants have two additional
structures in the form of sheaths. The plumule is
covered with a coleoptile that forms the first leaf
while the radicle is covered with a coleorhiza that
connects to the primary root and adventitious roots
form the sides. Here the hypocotyl is a rudimentary
axis between radicle and plumule. The seeds of
corn are constructed with these structures;
pericarp, scutellum (single large cotyledon) that
absorbs nutrients from the endosperm, plumule,
radicle, coleoptile, and coleorhiza – these last two
structures are sheath-like and enclose the plumule
and radicle, acting as a protective covering.
Seed dispersal
There are chances that the formed seeds can be
dispersed onto the ground due to several natural
factors such as wind, water, animals etc. Seeds
require enough wind, water, minerals and space to
grow. Therefore, it is suggested to distribute the
seeds for the healthy growth of the plant. The
dispersal of seeds can take place either artificially
or naturally. Garden-keepers and botanists perform
the artificial method of seed dispersal. Some of the
natural seed dispersal methods are listed below.

1.Wind Dispersal – Dandelions are a plant that

has feathery bristles. The seeds of it can be
dispersed through the wind. E.g. Orchid,
cottonwood etc.
2. Water Dispersal – The seeds sometimes flow
in the water away from the parent plant and
grow somewhere else .E.g sea kale, sea
rocket etc.
3.Animal Dispersal – Sometimes, plants
produce seeds in animals’ fresh fruits.
Squirrels tend to bury seeds that never come
out. Whereas these later grow into plants.
4. Bird Dispersal-The seeds sometimes
disperse by birds(fruit eating birds) and grow
somewhere else. E.g. parrot, pigeon etc.
5.Gravity Dispersal– Sometimes, fruit and their
seed fall on soil after ripening of fruit and
disperse seed. E,g-Apples, Commelina etc.
6.Explosions Dispersal– Some plants have
pods and the seeds burst out after ripen and
seed dispersed by explosion .E.g. pea, bean
etc.
 FRUITS

In botany, a fruit is the

seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is
formed from the ovary after flowering (see Fruit
anatomy).
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants
(also known as angiosperms) disseminate their
seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long
propagated using the movements of humans and
other animals in a symbiotic relationship that is the
means for seed dispersal for the one group and
nutrition for the other; humans and many other
animals have become dependent on fruits as a
source of food.[1] Consequently, fruits account for a
substantial fraction of the world's agricultural
output, and some (such as the apple and the
pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and
symbolic meanings.
In common language usage, fruit normally means
the seed-associated fleshy structures (or produce) of
plants that typically are sweet or sour and edible in
the raw state, such as apples, bananas, grapes,
lemons, oranges, and strawberries. In botanical
usage, the term fruit also includes many structures
that are not commonly called 'fruits' in everyday
language, such as nuts, bean pods, corn kernels,
tomatoes, and wheat grains.

Development

A fruit results from the

fertilizing and maturing of one or more flowers. The
gynoecium, which contains the stigma-style-ovary
system, is centred in the flower-head, and it forms
all or part of the fruit. Inside the ovary(es) are one
or more ovules. Here begins a complex sequence
called double fertilization: a female gametophyte
produces an egg cell for the purpose of fertilization.
(A female gametophyte is called megagametophyte,
and also called the embryo sac.) After double
fertilization, the ovules will become seeds.
Ovules are fertilized in a process that starts with
pollination, which is the movement of pollen from
the stamens to the stigma-style-ovary system
within the flower-head. After pollination, a pollen
tube grows from the (deposited) pollen through the
stigma down the style into the ovary to the ovule.
Two sperm are transferred from the pollen to a
megagametophyte. Within the megagametophyte,
one sperm unites with the egg, forming a zygote,
while the second sperm enters the central cell
forming the endosperm mother cell, which
completes the double fertilization process. Later, the
zygote will give rise to the embryo of the seed, and
the endosperm mother cell will give rise to
endosperm, a nutritive tissue used by the embryo.

As the ovules develop into

seeds, the ovary begins to ripen and the ovary wall,
the pericarp, may become fleshy (as in berries or
drupes), or it may form a hard outer covering (as in
nuts). In some multi-seeded fruits, the extent to
which a fleshy structure develops is proportional to
the number of fertilized ovules. The pericarp
typically is differentiated into two or three distinct
layers; these are called the exocarp (outer layer,
also called epicarp), mesocarp (middle layer), and
endocarp (inner layer).
In some fruits, the sepals, petals, stamens and/or
the style of the flower fall away as the fleshy fruit
ripens. However, for simple fruits derived from an
inferior ovary – i.e., one that lies below the
attachment of other floral parts – there are parts
(including petals, sepals, and stamens) that fuse
with the ovary and ripen with it. For such a case,
when floral parts other than the ovary form a
significant part of the fruit that develops, it is called
an accessory fruit. Examples of accessory fruits
include apple, rose hip, strawberry, and pineapple.

Because several parts of the

flower besides the ovary may contribute to the
structure of a fruit, it is important to understand
how a particular fruit form. There are three general
modes of fruit development:
 Apocarpous fruits develop from a single flower
(while having one or more separate, unfused,
carpels); they are the simple fruits.
 Syncarpous fruits develop from a single
gynoecium (having two or more carpels fused
together)
 Multiple fruits form from many flowers – i.e., an
inflorescence of flowers.

Classification of fruits
Consistent with the three modes of fruit
development, plant scientists have classified fruits
into three main groups: simple fruits, aggregate
fruits, and multiple (or composite) fruits. The
groupings reflect how the ovary and other flower
organs are arranged and how the fruits develop,
but they are not evolutionarily relevant as diverse
plant taxa may be in the same group.
Simple fruits
A dry simple fruit: milkweed (Asclepias syriaca);
dehiscence of the follicular fruit reveals seeds
within.
Simple fruits are the result of the ripening-to-fruit of
a simple or compound ovary in a single flower with
a single pistil. In contrast, a single flower with
numerous pistils typically produces an aggregate
fruit; and the merging of several flowers, or a
'multiple' of flowers, results in a 'multiple' fruit. A
simple fruit is further classified as either dry or
fleshy.
To distribute their seeds, dry fruits may split open
and discharge their seeds to the winds, which is
called dehiscence. Or the distribution process may
rely upon the decay and degradation of the fruit to
expose the seeds; or it may rely upon the eating of
fruit and excreting of seeds by frugivores – both are
called indehiscence. Fleshy fruits do not split open,
but they also are indehiscent and they may also
rely on frugivores for distribution of their seeds.
Typically, the entire outer layer of the ovary wall
ripens into a potentially edible pericarp.
Types of dry simple fruits, (with examples) include:
o Achene – most commonly seen in aggregate
fruits (e.g., strawberry, see below).
o Capsule – (Brazil nut: botanically, it is not a
nut).
o Caryopsis – (cereal grains, including wheat,
rice, oats, barley).
 o Cypsela – an achene-like fruit derived from the
individual florets in a capitulum: (dandelion).
o Fibrous drupe – (coconut, walnut: botanically,
neither is a true nut.).
o Follicle – follicles are formed from a single
carpel, and opens by one suture: (milkweed);
also commonly seen in aggregate fruits:
(magnolia, peony).
o Legume – (bean, pea, peanut: botanically, the
peanut is the seed of a legume, not a nut).
o Loment – a type of indehiscent legume: (sweet
vetch or wild potato).
o Nut – (beechnut, hazelnut, acorn (of the oak):
botanically, these are true nuts).
o Samara – (ash, elm, maple key).
o Schizocarp, see below – (carrot seed).
o Silique – (radish seed).
o Silicle – (shepherd's purse).
o Utricle – (beet, Rumex).
Fruits in which part or all of the pericarp (fruit wall)
is fleshy at maturity are termed fleshy simple fruits.
Types of fleshy simple fruits, (with examples)
include:
 Berry – the berry is the most common type of
fleshy fruit. The entire outer layer of the ovary
wall ripens into a potentially edible "pericarp",
(see below).
 Stone fruit or drupe – the definitive
characteristic of a drupe is the hard, "lignified"
 stone (sometimes called the "pit"). It is derived
from the ovary wall of the flower: apricot,
cherry, olive, peach, plum, mango.
 Pome – the pome fruits: apples, pears, rosehips,
saskatoon berry, etc., are a syncarpous (fused)
fleshy fruit, a simple fruit, developing from a
half-inferior ovary.[18] Pomes are of the family
Rosaceae.

BERRIES
Berries are a type of simple fleshy fruit that issue
from a single ovary. (The ovary itself may be
compound, with several carpels.) The botanical term
true berry includes grapes, currants, cucumbers,
eggplants (aubergines), tomatoes, chili peppers, and
bananas, but excludes certain fruits that are called
"-berry" by culinary custom or by common usage of
the term – such as strawberries and raspberries.
Berries may be formed from one or more carpels
(i.e., from the simple or compound ovary) from the
same, single flower. Seeds typically are embedded
in the fleshy interior of the ovary.
Examples include:
1.Tomato – in culinary terms, the tomato is
regarded as a vegetable, but it is botanically
classified as a fruit and a berry.[20]
2.Banana – the fruit has been described as a
"leathery berry".[21] In cultivated varieties, the
seeds are diminished nearly to non-existence.
3.Pepo – berries with skin that is hardened:
cucurbits, including gourds, squash, melons.
4.Hesperidium – berries with a rind and a juicy
interior: most citrus fruit.
5.Cranberry, gooseberry, redcurrant, grape.
The strawberry, regardless of its appearance, is
classified as a dry, not a fleshy fruit. Botanically, it
is not a berry; it is an aggregate-accessory fruit, the
latter term meaning the fleshy part is derived not
from the plant's ovaries but from the receptacle that
holds the ovaries. Numerous dry achenes are
attached to the outside of the fruit-flesh; they
appear to be seeds but each is actually an ovary of
a flower, with a seed inside.
Schizocarps are dry fruits, though some appear to
be fleshy. They originate from syncarpous ovaries
but do not actually dehisce; rather, they split into
segments with one or more seeds. They include a
number of different forms from a wide range of
families, including carrot, parsnip, parsley, cumin

Aggregate fruits
An aggregate fruit is also called an aggregation, or
etaerio; it develops from a single flower that
presents numerous simple pistils. Each pistil
contains one carpel; together, they form a fruitlet.
The ultimate (fruiting) development of the
aggregation of pistils is called an aggregate fruit,
etaerio fruit, or simply an etaerio.

Different types of aggregate fruits can produce

different etaerios, such as achenes, drupelets,
follicles, and berries.
For example, the Ranunculaceae species, including
Clematis and Ranunculus, produces an etaerio of
achenes; Rubus species, including raspberry: an
etaerio of drupelets; Calotropis species: an etaerio
of follicles fruit; Annona species: an etaerio of
berries.
Some other broadly recognized species and their
etaerios (or aggregations) are:
1.Teasel; fruit is an aggregation of cypsela.
2.Tulip tree; fruit is an aggregation of samaras.
3.Magnolia and peony; fruit is an aggregation of
follicles.
4.American sweet gum; fruit is an aggregation of
capsules.
5.Sycamore; fruit is an aggregation of achenes.
The pistils of the raspberry are called drupelets
because each pistil is like a small drupe attached to
the receptacle. In some bramble fruits, such as
blackberry, the receptacle, an accessory part,
elongates and then develops as part of the fruit,
making the blackberry an aggregate-accessory
fruit. The strawberry is also an aggregate-
accessory fruit, of which the seeds are contained in
the achenes. Notably in all these examples, the fruit
develops from a single flower, with numerous
pistils.
 Significance of seed and fruit formation
Reproduction is a biological process where every
new individual is produced through the sperm of
the father and the mother’s eggs. Similarly, the
plant produces in two ways, either asexually or
sexually. Asexually, the seed is produced without
the seed formation, whereas sexually, the seed is
produced with the seed formation. Vegetative parts
such as roots, leaves and stems are involved in
asexual reproduction, whereas the flower’s
reproductive part is involved in the sexual
reproduction of the seed.
When a fertilized ovule gets divided by mitosis, it
forms the seed. It can store food and can be
developed into a new plant under favourable
conditions. When a male and a female gamete
combine to form a zygote, the process is called
fertilization. Stigma gets transferred to the Pollen
grains through several pollinating agents, including
water, wind, butterflies, insects, animals, birds,
among others. Once it reaches the stigma, the male
sex cells contact the egg in the ovule to form a
zygote that later develops in an embryo and then a
foetus.
Once the fertilization is completed, the entered
flower sheds off except the ovary. In contrast, it
turns into a fruit and the ovules into seeds. Once
the seeds are produced, it completes the
reproduction process. In these seeds, the embryo
develops and turns into a flower.

CONCLUSION
Seeds and fruits are formed by fertilization. In
angiosperms, two structures are formed as a result
of double fertilization – a diploid zygote and a
triploid primary endosperm cell. Both fruits and
seeds are an important part of angiosperms