NEET BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Ancestors of green plants began to colonise the land about 500 million years ago and it is generally accepted that they evolved from streptophyte algae (a group of green, fresh water algae).

Detailed explanation-2: -Cyanobacteria algae were the dominant life forms on earth for more than 1.5 billion years. They were the first organisms to photosynthesize and to produce chlorophyll and other pigments. Cyanobacteria represent the evolutionary origin of chloroplasts in all eukaryotic algae and vascular plants.

Detailed explanation-3: -Land plants (embryophytes) evolved from freshwater multicellular algae, probably related to the extant charophyte groups Charales or Coleochaetales [1–4]. Together, land plants and charophytes form a monophyletic group, the streptophytes, which is sister to the other green algae: the chlorophytes (figure 1).

Detailed explanation-4: -Evidence shows that plants evolved from freshwater green algae. In plants, the embryo develops inside of the female plant after fertilization. Algae do not keep the embryo inside of themselves but release it into water. This was the first feature to evolve that separated plants living on land from green algae.

Detailed explanation-5: -Today it is widely accepted that land plants (embryophytes) evolved from streptophyte algae, also referred to as charophycean algae. The streptophyte algae are a paraphyletic group of green algae, ranging from unicellular flagellates to morphologically complex forms such as the stoneworts (Charales).