The structures that play comparable roles in plant and animal life cycles are pollen grain in plants and sperm in animals , and ovule in plants and ovum (egg) in animals.

Key idea

  • In animals, sperm and egg (ovum) are the male and female gametes that fuse during fertilization to form a zygote, starting the next generation.
  • In seed plants, pollen grains carry the male gametes (sperm cells), and the ovule contains the female gametophyte that produces the egg; fertilization here also produces a zygote that develops into the embryo inside the seed.

How their roles are comparable

  • Both pairs are involved in sexual reproduction and ensure transfer of genetic material to the next generation.
  • Pollen grain ↔ sperm: both deliver male gametes to the female structure (stigma/ovule in plants, female reproductive tract/egg in animals).
  • Ovule ↔ ovum: both are female reproductive structures that house or are the site of the egg cell and where fertilization produces the embryo.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.