Moss survival through in situ cryptobiosis after six centuries of glacier burial

Cannone, Nicoletta; Corinti, T.; Malfasi, Francesco; Gerola, Paolo D.; Vianelli, Alberto; Vanetti, Isabella; Zaccara, Serena; Convey, Peter; Guglielmin, Mauro

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-04848-6

Cited by 28 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(63 reference statements)

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“…Long‐term in situ persistence of B. argenteum in Antarctica could have been achieved both in refugia or, potentially, through cryptobiosis (long‐term survival in a biologically inactive state). An example of this has been demonstrated recently at Rothera Point (AP), where clump‐forming mosses survived using cryptobiosis over six centuries of cold‐based glacier burial and, after re‐exposure due to glacier retreat, were able to return to a metabolically active state (Cannone et al., 2017). A similar inference was made by La Farge, Williams, and England (2013) in the Canadian High Arctic, as well as by Roads, Longton, and Convey (2014) at Signy Island (South Orkney Islands) within bank‐forming mosses over a period of up to two millennia preserved in permafrost.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Multiple colonization and dispersal events hide the early origin and induce a lack of genetic structure of the moss Bryum argenteum in Antarctica

Zaccara

Patiño

Convey

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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The dispersal routes of taxa with transoceanic disjunctions remain poorly understood, with the potential roles of Antarctica not yet demonstrated. Mosses are suitable organisms to test direct intra‐Antarctic dispersal, as major component of the extant Antarctic flora, with the cosmopolitan moss Bryum argenteum as ideal target species. We analyzed the genetic structure of B. argenteum to provide an evolutionary time frame for its radiation and shed light into its historical biogeography in the Antarctic region. We tested two alternative scenarios: (a) intra‐Antarctic panmixia and (b) intra‐Antarctic genetic differentiation. Furthermore, we tested for evidence of the existence of specific intra‐Antarctic dispersal routes. Sixty‐seven new samples (40 collected in Antarctica) were sequenced for ITS nrDNA and rps4 cpDNA regions, and phylogenetic trees of B. argenteum were constructed, with a focus on its Southern Hemisphere. Combining our new nrDNA dataset with previously published datasets, we estimated time‐calibrated phylogenies based on two different substitution rates (derived from angiosperms and bryophytes) along with ancestral area estimations. Minimum spanning network and pairwise genetic distances were also calculated. B. argenteum was potentially distributed across Africa and Antarctica soon after its origin. Its earliest intra‐Antarctic dispersal and diversification occurred during a warming period in the Pliocene. On the same timescale, a radiation took place involving a dispersal event from Antarctica to the sub‐Antarctic islands. A more recent event of dispersal and diversification within Antarctica occurred during a warm period in the Pleistocene, creating favorable conditions also for its colonization outside the Antarctic continent worldwide. We provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that contemporary populations of B. argenteum in Antarctica integrate a history of both multiple long‐range dispersal events and local persistence combined with in situ diversification. Our data support the hypothesis that B. argenteum has been characterized by strong connectivity within Antarctica, suggesting the existence of intra‐Antarctic dispersal routes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Multiple colonization and dispersal events hide the early origin and induce a lack of genetic structure of the moss Bryum argenteum in Antarctica

Zaccara

Patiño

Convey

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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“…; Cannone et al . ), along with phylogeographic evidence for in situ persistence of moss species in Antarctica during the LGM (Pisa et al . ; Biersma et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

No borders during the post‐glacial assembly of European bryophytes

et al. 2019

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Climatic fluctuations during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) exerted a profound influence on biodiversity patterns, but their impact on bryophytes, the second most diverse group of land plants, has been poorly documented. Approximate Bayesian computations based on coalescent simulations showed that the post‐glacial assembly of European bryophytes involves a complex history from multiple sources. The contribution of allochthonous migrants was 95–100% of expanding populations in about half of the 15 investigated species, which is consistent with the globally balanced genetic diversities and extremely low divergence observed among biogeographical regions. Such a substantial contribution of allochthonous migrants in the post‐glacial assembly of Europe is unparalleled in other plants and animals. The limited role of northern micro‐refugia, which was unexpected based on bryophyte life‐history traits, and of southern refugia, is consistent with recent palaeontological evidence that LGM climates in Eurasia were much colder and drier than what palaeoclimatic models predict.

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“…In order to live in the Arctic, bryophytes must also be able to survive extremely low temperatures and long intervals without liquid water, both of which are made possible by their poikilohydric, cold‐ and desiccation‐tolerant physiology (Longton, 1988). These aspects of their physiology allow some moss species to survive in the desiccated state for ≤20 yr (Stark et al, 2017), to maintain positive net rates of carbon fixation at subfreezing temperatures (Longton, 1988; Glime, 2017), and even to regenerate after being frozen for hundreds (La Farge et al, 2013; Cannone et al, 2017) or even more than a thousand years (i.e., >1500 yr; Roads et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cynodontium luthii sp. nov.: a permineralized moss gametophyte from the Late Cretaceous of the North Slope of Alaska

Bippus

Rothwell

Stockey

2021

American J of Botany

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PREMISE Mosses are a major component of Arctic vegetation today, with >500 species known to date. However, the origins of the Arctic moss flora are poorly documented in the fossil record, especially prior to the Pliocene. Here, we present the first anatomically preserved pre‐Cenozoic Arctic moss and discuss how the unique biology of bryophytes has facilitated their success in polar environments over geologic time. METHODS A permineralized fossil moss gametophyte within a block of Late Cretaceous terrestrial limestone, collected along the Colville River on the North Slope of Alaska, was studied in serial sections prepared using the cellulose acetate peel technique. RESULTS The moss gametophyte is branched and has leaves with a broad base, narrow blade, and excurrent costa. We describe this fossil as Cynodontium luthii sp. nov., an extinct species of a genus that is known from the High Arctic today. Cynodontium luthii is the oldest evidence of the family Rhabdoweisiaceae (by ≥18 Ma) and reveals that genera of haplolepideous mosses known in the extant Arctic flora also lived in high‐latitude temperate deciduous forests during the Late Cretaceous. CONCLUSIONS The occurrence of C. luthii in Cretaceous sediments, together with a rich Pliocene‐to‐Holocene fossil record of extant moss genera in the High Arctic, suggests that some moss lineages have exploited their poikilohydric, cold‐ and desiccation‐tolerant physiology to live in the region when it experienced both temperate and freezing climates.

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Moss survival through in situ cryptobiosis after six centuries of glacier burial

Cited by 28 publications

References 30 publications

Multiple colonization and dispersal events hide the early origin and induce a lack of genetic structure of the moss Bryum argenteum in Antarctica

Multiple colonization and dispersal events hide the early origin and induce a lack of genetic structure of the moss Bryum argenteum in Antarctica

No borders during the post‐glacial assembly of European bryophytes

Cynodontium luthii sp. nov.: a permineralized moss gametophyte from the Late Cretaceous of the North Slope of Alaska

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