antheridial

Antheridial is an adjective describing anything related to an antheridium, the male gametangium found in certain plants, algae, and fungi. Antheridia are typically multicellular structures that produce male gametes, and in many species these gametes are motile sperm with flagella.

In bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) and many pteridophytes (ferns and their relatives), antheridia develop on the male gametophyte. The sperm released by antheridia must swim to the archegonia, the female gametangia, in a film of water. Fertilization yields a diploid zygote that grows into the sporophyte, which remains attached to or dependent on the gametophyte.

In certain algae, particularly some Chlorophyta, antheridia are the male gametangia and produce sperm that fertilize egg cells in other thallus tissues or colonial forms.

In fungi, especially among primitive groups such as some chytrids and oomycetes, antheridium refers to the male gametangium that delivers nuclei to the oogonium during fertilization, enabling plasmogamy and subsequent karyogamy.

The term antheridial is used when describing plants, algae, or fungi that bear or involve antheridia, or organs or tissues formed as part of the male reproductive system. Distinctions from the female counterpart, the archegonium or oogonium, are common in discussions of gametangial development and life cycles.