Proteomic analysis of gametophytic sex expression in the fern Ceratopteris thalictroides

Abstract

Ceratopteris thalictroides , a model fern, has two kinds of gametophytes with different sex expression: male and hermaphrodite. Hermaphroditic gametophytes have one or several archegonia beneath the growing point and a few antheridia at the base or margin. Male gametophytes show a spoon-like shape with much longer than the width and produce many antheridia at the margin and surface. The results of chlorophyll fluorescence detection showed that the photochemical efficiency of hermaphrodites was higher than that of males. By using two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry, the differentially abundant proteins in hermaphroditic and male gametophytes were identified. A total of 1136 ± 55 protein spots were detected in Coomassie-stained gels of proteins from hermaphroditic gametophytes, and 1130 ± 65 spots were detected in gels of proteins from male gametophytes. After annotation, 33 spots representing differentially abundant proteins were identified. Among these, proteins involved in photosynthesis and chaperone proteins were over-represented in hermaphrodites, whereas several proteins involved in metabolism were increased in male gametophytes in order to maintain their development under relatively nutritionally deficient conditions. Furthermore, the differentially abundant cytoskeletal proteins detected in this study, such as centrin and actin, may be involved in the formation of sexual organs and are directly related to sex expression. These differentially abundant proteins are important for maintaining the development of gametophytes of different sexes in C . thalictroides .

Insights into the evolutionary history and widespread occurrence of antheridiogen systems in ferns

“…These methods may be key to mass testing AG response in many of the yet unstudied species. We are now beginning to understand how AGs operate on the molecular level (Valledor et al ., 2014; Ganger et al ., 2015; Attalah et al ., 2018; Chen et al ., 2019) but many questions about their distribution and evolution remain unanswered. Hopefully, our comprehensive dataset can provide a starting point for fern researchers to learn whether their species of interest use this intriguing system of pheromonal control over sexual determination.…”

Sexual and Apogamous Species of Woodferns Show Different Protein and Phytohormone Profiles

“…Specifically, among other proteins upregulated in the studied female gametophytes, we found alpha and beta amylase, pfkB-like carbohydrate kinase family protein, phosphoglucan, water dikinase (PWD), cytosolic fructose 1-6-bisphosphatase, a probable sucrose-phosphate synthase 3, glucose-1-phosphate adenylyltransferase, chloroplastic glucose-6-phosphate isomerase 1, etc. In Ceratopteris thalictroides , proteins linked to photosynthesis were over-represented in hermaphrodite gametophytes compared to male ones induced by antheridiogens, which had smaller size (Chen et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Several papers have been published to deepen on sexual and asexual reproduction in ferns. Two of them were driven in the model fern species C. richardii , looking for genes associated with female expression, and also male expression mediated by the pheromone antheridiogen in gametophytes (Atallah et al, 2018 ; Chen et al, 2019 ). Also, a comparative transcriptome analyses was done by Fu and Chen ( 2019 ) between apogamous and sexual gametophytes in Adiantum reniforme var.…”

Application of Polypodiopsida Class in Nanotechnology–Potential towards Development of More Effective Bioactive Solutions

“…The subclass Equisetidae includes a single current genus, Equisetum , with species widespread in humid habitats, characterized by the presence of an underground rhizome-type stem from which aerial ridged stems are formed. The determination of the sex of the potential bisexual gametophyte is influenced by environmental factors [ 30 ], a phenomenon known as environmental sex determination (ESD) [ 31 ]. Some species of Equisetum are medicinal [ 32 ].…”