Tapetum (redirected from tapetum fibrosum)

tapetum [tə′pēd·əm]

(botany)

A layer of nutritive cells surrounding the spore mother cells in the sporangium in higher plants; it is broken down to provide nourishment for developing spores.

(neuroscience)

A reflecting layer in the choroid coat behind the neural retina, chiefly in the eyes of nocturnal mammals.

A tract of nerve fibers forming part of the roof of each lateral ventricle in the vertebrate brain.

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Tapetum 

a layer (occasionally several layers) of cells in the sporangia of the majority of higher plants; it is rich in nutrients and physiologically active substances. The tapetum may originate from the archespore, as in leptosporangiate ferns and selaginellas. It may be the inner layer of the sporangium wall, as in eusporangiate ferns, plants of the order Lycopodiales, and plants of the genus Equisetum, or the inner layer of a microsporangium, as in seed plants.

The substances in tapetum cells are used by the developing sporocytes and spores; in seed plants they are used by the pollen grains as well. The tapetum cells either form a periplasmodium, or amoeboid tapetum, or they maintain their position, forming a secretory tapetum. There is no tapetum in the sporangia of Psilotophyta or Isoëtales.