Fossilized Nuclei and Chromosomes Reveal 180 Million Years of Genomic Stasis in Royal Ferns

@article{Bomfleur2014FossilizedNA,
  title={Fossilized Nuclei and Chromosomes Reveal 180 Million Years of Genomic Stasis in Royal Ferns},
  author={Benjamin Bomfleur and Stephen McLoughlin and Vivi Vajda},
  journal={Science},
  year={2014},
  volume={343},
  pages={1376 - 1377}
}
Cytologically Informative Fossils Fossilization processes tend to destroy fine-cell structure but, exceptionally, Bomfleur et al. (p. 1376) have found examples of fossil ferns from the Jurassic in which subcellular structures, including organelles such as nuclei and chromosomes, are well-preserved. Comparative and quantative analyses show that these cells closely resemble the fossil nuclei of extant cinnamon ferns, Osmundastrum cinnamomea, which indicates that this group of ferns has remained… 
View on AAAS
nrm.diva-portal.org
114 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
5
Background Citations
39
Methods Citations
4
Results Citations
1

114 Citations

Fossilized cell nuclei are not that rare: Review of the histological evidence in the Phanerozoic
Nucleus preservation in early Ediacaran Weng'an embryo-like fossils, experimental taphonomy of nuclei and implications for reading the eukaryote fossil record
TLDR
The results provide both a secure identification of the Weng'an nuclei as well as the potential of a fossil record of organelles that might help arbitrate in long-standing debates over the relative and absolute timing of the evolutionary assembly of eukaryote-grade cells.
Evidence for molecular structural variations in the cytoarchitectures of a Jurassic plant
In this study, we investigate the molecular structural characteristics of organic remains in various cellular organelles from a 180 Ma Jurassic royal fern belonging to the Osmundaceae family of…
Experimental taphonomy of organelles and the fossil record of early eukaryote evolution
TLDR
Experimental characterized the pattern and time scale of decay of nuclei, chloroplasts, and pyrenoids in red and green algae, demonstrating that they persist for many weeks postmortem as physical substrates available for preservation, a time scale consistent with known mechanisms of fossilization.
Evidence of proteins, chromosomes and chemical markers of DNA in exceptionally preserved dinosaur cartilage
TLDR
The data support the hypothesis that calcified cartilage is preserved at the molecular level in this Mesozoic material, and suggest that remnants of once-living chondrocytes, including their DNA, may preserve for millions of years.
Evolutionary Genomics of Ferns and Lycophytes
Three-dimensional preservation of cellular and subcellular structures suggests 1.6 billion-year-old crown-group red algae
TLDR
If inferences are correct, Rafatazmia and Ramathallus represent crown-group multicellular rhodophytes, antedating the oldest previously accepted red alga in the fossil record by about 400 million years.
Wood shrinkage during fossilisation and its significance for studying deep-time lignophytes
Subcellular preservation in giant ostracod sperm from an early Miocene cave deposit in Australia
TLDR
It is argued that the highly resistant, most probably chitinous coats of giant ostracod sperm may play a role in delaying decay processes, favouring early mineralization of soft tissue.
Microbes and the Fossil Record: Selected Topics in Paleomicrobiology
TLDR
Studies of the microbial fossil record are relevant to profound, perennial questions that have puzzled humanity and science—they provide the only direct window onto the beginnings and early evolution of life; and the methods and criteria developed for recognizing ancient, inconspicuous traces oflife have yielded an approach directly applicable to the search for traces of life on other worlds.
...
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 52 REFERENCES
Unfurling Fern Biology in the Genomics Age
TLDR
Genomic data are enabling researchers to examine speciation rates and the mechanisms underlying the formation of new fern species, and genetic tools that have been used to study gene function and development in ferns are described.
Osmunda cinnamomea (Osmundaceae) in the Upper Cretaceous of Western North America: Additional Evidence for Exceptional Species Longevity among Filicalean Ferns
TLDR
This article provides an additional example of a well‐characterized fossil filicalean fern that can be confidently assigned to a species with living representatives, O. cinnamomea L.
Phase-contrast X-ray microtomography links Cretaceous seeds with Gnetales and Bennettitales
Over the past 25 years the discovery and study of Cretaceous plant mesofossils has yielded diverse and exquisitely preserved fossil flowers that have revolutionized our knowledge of early…
Synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy of fossil embryos
TLDR
SRXTM provides a method of non-invasive analysis that rivals the resolution achieved even by destructive methods, probing the very limits of fossilization and providing insight into embryology during the emergence of metazoan phyla.
A new structurally preserved fern rhizome of Osmundaceae (Filicales) Ashicaulis wangii sp. nov. from the Jurassic of western Liaoning and its significances for palaeobiogeography and evolution
TLDR
Osmundaceous rhizome fossils from China show endemic anatomical characteristics and significances for palaeobiogeography, and Comparisons of anatomical features suggest that A. wangii sp.
Permineralized rhizomes of the Osmundaceae (Filicales): Diversity and tempo-spatial distribution pattern
Evidence of Paleozoic Chromosomes from Lycopod Microgametophytes
TLDR
A Pennsylvanian arborescent lycopod cone, Lepidostrobus schopfii, has microspores that have been found to have intracellular features that are interpreted as nuclei and mitotic chromosomes, and conform to the early stages of growth in modern Selaginella microgametophytes.
POPULATIONAL AND GENETIC STUDIES OF A HOMOSPOROUS FERN—OSMUNDA REGALIS
TLDR
The mating system and the genetic system of the homosporous fern Osmunda regalis were investigated and all the sporophytes investigated were found to be heterozygous for zygotic lethals.
Cellular and Subcellular Structure of Neoproterozoic Animal Embryos
TLDR
Stereoblastic embryos from the Doushantuo Formation of China exhibit occasional asynchronous cell division, with diminishing blastomere volume as cleavage proceeded, implying that sophisticated mechanisms for differential cell division timing and embryonic cell lineage differentiation evolved before 551 million years ago.
A New Allotetraploid Species of Osmunda (Osmundaceae)
TLDR
Molecular data suggest that Indian O. regalis is a putative maternal ancestor and O. japonica is a paternal ancestor, the first record of a naturally occurring polyploid species in the most primitive leptosporangiate family Osmundaceae.
...
...