The mossFunaria hygrometricahas cuticular wax similar to vascular plants, with distinct composition on leafy gametophyte, calyptra and sporophyte capsule surfaces

Abstract

This is the first study to determine wax coverage (μg cm(-2)) on a moss surface, enabling direct comparisons with vascular plants, which were shown to have an equal amount or more wax than F. hygrometrica Wax ester biosynthesis is of particular importance in this species, and the ester-forming enzyme(s) in different parts of the moss may have different substrate preferences. Furthermore, the alkane-forming wax biosynthesis pathway, found widely in vascular plants, is active in the sporophyte capsule, but not in the leafy gametophyte or calyptra. Overall, wax composition and coverage on F. hygrometrica were similar to those reported for some vascular plant species, suggesting that the underlying biosynthetic processes in plants of both lineages were inherited from a common ancestor.

Oxidosqualene cyclases involved in the biosynthesis of triterpenoids in Quercus suber cork

“…The mixture was incubated at 70 °C for 45 minutes, then the derivatization reagents were evaporated under a stream of nitrogen at 70 °C, and the residue was dissolved in chloroform (20 μl). Derivatized samples were first analyzed with GC-MS using standard 70 eV EI ionization and then with GC-FID using identical chromatographic conditions (oven temperature program: 50 °C hold for 2 min, 3 °C/min ramp to 200 °C, hold for 5 min, 3 °C/min ramp to 320, hold for 30 min), both as described previously 42 . Peaks in the GC-MS chromatograms were identified by comparing their mass spectra and retention times against those of authentic standards.…”

Deciphering the Evolution and Development of the Cuticle by Studying Lipid Transfer Proteins in Mosses and Liverworts

“…The calyptra is the small cap of maternal gametophyte tissue that covers the top of the sporophyte during development. This structure is covered with a multi-layered cuticle, similar in structure to the cuticle in flowering plants, as shown by SEM and TEM of the calyptra from the moss Funaria hygrometrica [ 38 ]. Hence, it appears that most aerial surfaces of bryophytes such as the sporophytes and the thalli of liverworts and the gametophores of many leafy mosses are protected by a cuticle with a similar composition and structure as the cuticle in vascular plants.…”

Coverage and composition of cuticular waxes on the fronds of the temperate ferns Pteridium aquilinum, Cryptogramma crispa, Polypodium glycyrrhiza, Polystichum munitum and Gymnocarpium dryopteris

“…Alkyl esters were the most abundant compound class in the wax mixtures from all fern species investigated here. Other species from diverse lineages have been reported to have abundant alkyl esters as well, including the moss Funaria hygrometrica (Busta et al, 2016), the fronds of the tree fern Cyathea dealbata (Franich et al, 1985a) and two subspecies of P. aquilinum (Baker and Gaskin, 1987), the internodes and leaf sheaths of the horsetail Equisetum telmateia (Brune and Haas, 2011), leaves of the oak tree Quercus ilex (Martins et al, 1999), leaves of the oil seed crop Camelina sativa (Razeq et al, 2014) and leaves of the palm Copernicia cerifera (Lawrence et al, 1982). However, some ferns and fern allies have relatively low amounts of wax esters, including the fronds of Osmunda regalis (Jetter and Riederer, 2000) and several organs of various Equisetum species (Brune and Haas, 2011).…”

“…So far, the cuticles of only a few seedless plants have been studied. For example, the cuticular waxes of the moss Funaria hygrometrica contain mainly alkyl esters together with diol esters and β-hydroxy-fatty acid alkyl esters (Busta et al, 2016), while Polytrichales mosses have waxes comprising relatively large amounts of secondary alcohols (Neinhuis and Jetter, 1995). Thus, these few studies indicate that there is substantial unexplored wax diversity outside of the frequently studied seed plant taxa.…”