Developmental Physiology of Fern Gametophytes: Relevance for Biology

Voeller, Bruce R.

doi:10.2307/1295968

Cited by 40 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In the middle of the twentieth century, Döpp (1950) reported that reusing growth media that had supported female gametophytes of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) induced precocious antheridium formation in developing gametophytes of Pteridium, as well as in those of the wood fern Dryopteris filix-mas. Subsequent workers (e.g., Näf 1962, Voeller 1964, 1971 showed that these and several additional fern species Figure 1. Life-cycle variants observed in homosporous vascular plants.…”

Section: Alternation Of Generationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex and the Single Gametophyte: Revising the Homosporous Vascular Plant Life Cycle in Light of Contemporary Research

Haufler

Pryer²,

Schuettpelz³

et al. 2016

BioScience

120

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Homosporous vascular plants are typically depicted as extreme inbreeders, with bisexual gametophytes that produce strictly homozygous sporophytes. This view is promulgated in textbook life cycles despite ample evidence that natural populations of most species regularly outcross. We review research on a variety of mechanisms, including genetic load, asynchronous production of eggs and sperm, and pheromonal control of gamete production, that actively promote heterozygosity in ferns and lycophytes. Evolution of the land plants cannot be reconstructed without accurate depictions of the unique life cycle that has helped make ferns the second most diverse lineage of vascular plants on Earth. With revised illustrations and definitions, we provide scientists, educators, and students with a contemporary understanding of fern and lycophyte reproduction, revealing them as evolutionarily dynamic and exploiting a wide range of mating systems.

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Section: Alternation Of Generationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex and the Single Gametophyte: Revising the Homosporous Vascular Plant Life Cycle in Light of Contemporary Research

Haufler

Pryer²,

Schuettpelz³

et al. 2016

BioScience

120

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Endospory, once present, places developing gametophytes within the heterogeneous metabolic sphere of the sporophytic parent. Sporophytic control of gametophytic sex expression prevents the gametophyte from responding to environmental cues, as can free-living exosporic gametophytes (Voeller, 1971;Naf, 1979). Endosporic gametophytes in the most favorable metabolic microenvironments mature as females, while those in poorer metabolic microenvironments mature as males.…”

Section: Origin Of Separate Sexesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bell (1979) also discussed the importance of metabolic microenvironment in plant development and sexual expression. In some species of homosporous ferns, gametophytes developing from larger isospores tend to grow faster and to produce archegonia; smaller spores give rise to more slowly growing gametophytes that either produce antheridia or are induced to do so by antheridiogens produced by neighboring females (Voeller, 1971;Bell, 1979;Naf, 1979). This flexibility in sexual expression, which may include the potential for one gametophyte to produce gametes of both sexes, allocates the timing of gamete production and the determination of sex ratio in a gametophyte population to the gametophyte generation.…”

Section: Origin Of Separate Sexesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origins of Heterospory and the Seed Habit: The Role of Heterochrony

DiMichele

Davis

Olmstead

1989

TAXON

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Summary The origin of the seed‐plant life history, and subsequent diversification of seed morphology, should be considered two independent, fundamentally distinct evolutionary problems. Gametophytic endospory may have arisen paedomorphically from homosporous ancestors, specifically by progenesis in the gametophyte generation. Heterospory and gametophytic unisexuality are not necessarily evolutionary antecedents of endospory; rather, they may have arisen as developmental consequences of endospory. Once seeds existed, their early pattern of diversification was not one of gradual change in form, but of a proliferation of integumentary types differing widely from one another. Subsequently, the morphological spectrum narrowed, with closed integuments eventually prevailing. This two‐stage pattern of diversity suggests an initial phenotypic breakthrough into a largely “empty” adaptive zone, followed by intensified biotic competition as the adaptive zone filled.

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“…For example, Apt has been shown to promote dark germination in some members of the Polypodiaceae sensu lato, and AAn and ALy can substitute for the light requirement in Anemia and Lygodium. However, no dark germination is promoted by Ac, in Ceratopteris (Naf 1966;Schedlbauer 1974;Voeller 1971).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Abscisic acid blocks antheridiogen-induced antheridium formation in gametophytes of the fern Ceratopteris

Hickok¹

1983

Can. J. Bot.

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Growth and differentiation of haploid gametophytes of the fern Ceratopteris are influenced by antheridiogen and abscisic acid. Antheridiogen induces the premature formation of male sex organs (antheridia), while abscisic acid, at a concentration of 10−4 M, completely blocks antheridia formation, even in the presence of antheridiogen. In addition, abscisic acid stimulates rhizoid production at concentrations of 10−6–10−5 M but becomes inhibitory at higher concentrations. Meristem development, which is normally at the margins of gametophytes, is often submarginal or central in the presence of abscisic acid and results in the formation of cup-shaped female gametophytes bearing archegonia.

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Developmental Physiology of Fern Gametophytes: Relevance for Biology

Cited by 40 publications

References 20 publications

Sex and the Single Gametophyte: Revising the Homosporous Vascular Plant Life Cycle in Light of Contemporary Research

Sex and the Single Gametophyte: Revising the Homosporous Vascular Plant Life Cycle in Light of Contemporary Research

Origins of Heterospory and the Seed Habit: The Role of Heterochrony

Abscisic acid blocks antheridiogen-induced antheridium formation in gametophytes of the fern Ceratopteris

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