Microarthropods Mediate Sperm Transfer in Mosses

@article{Cronberg2006MicroarthropodsMS,
  title={Microarthropods Mediate Sperm Transfer in Mosses},
  author={Nils Cronberg and Rayna Natcheva and Katarina Hedlund},
  journal={Science},
  year={2006},
  volume={313},
  pages={1255 - 1255}
}
Among flowering plants, animals commonly act as pollinators. We showed that fertile moss shoots attract springtails and mites, which in turn carry moss sperm, thereby enhancing the fertilization process. Previously, fertilization of mosses was thought to depend on the capacity of individual sperm to swim through a continuous water layer. The role of microarthropods in moss fertilization resembles the role of animals as pollinators of flowering plants but may be evolutionarily much older because… Expand
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Animal-mediated fertilization in bryophytes - parallel or precursor to insect pollination in angiosperms?
TLDR
A ’Bryophyte precursor hypothesis of plant pollination’ is suggested stating that animal-mediated fertilization in mosses and insect pollination in seed plants is historically linked by homologous or analogous evolution of structures responsible for attraction and reward aimed at a pool of fertilization vectors originally co-evolved with bryophytes and subsequently co-opted by seed plants. Expand
Sex-specific volatile compounds influence microarthropod-mediated fertilization of moss
TLDR
The results indicate the presence of a scent-based ‘plant–pollinator-like’ relationship that has evolved between two of Earth’s most ancient terrestrial lineages, mosses and microarthropods. Expand
Water mediates fertilization in a terrestrial flowering plant.
TLDR
The results reveal a previously undescribed fertilization mechanism in flowering plants involving water-mediated fertilization stimulated by rain, likely to be adaptive in the subtropical monsoon environments in which C. gracilis occurs by ensuring reproductive assurance when persistent rain prevents insect-mediated pollination. Expand
Airborne sperm of Conocephalum conicum (Conocephalaceae)
TLDR
The first momentary photographs of sperms just as they are discharged from the antheridium of a liverwort, Conocephalum conicum, are obtained and airborne sperMS of bryophytes under field conditions are monitored. Expand
Testing the Ecological and Physiological Factors Influencing Reproductive Success in Mosses
TLDR
It is found that a fraction of sperm cells were tolerant to environmental desiccation for extended periods (days) and that tolerance did not vary among species and that the addition of sucrose during dry-down improved cell recovery. Expand
Long-lived sperm in the geothermal bryophyte Pohlia nutans
TLDR
The lifespan of sperm of Pohlia nutans, collected from a geothermal spring's area, and the effects of variation under environmental conditions on this lifespan are documented and suggest the need to reconsider the importance of sperm motility in bryophyte fertilization. Expand
Tolerance to environmental desiccation in moss sperm.
TLDR
A fraction of sperm cells were tolerant to environmental desiccation for extended periods and that tolerance did not vary among species, suggesting the presence of a significant, uncharacterized complexity in the ecology of moss mating systems. Expand
Microarthropod contributions to fitness variation in the common moss Ceratodon purpureus
TLDR
An estimate of the fitness benefit for mosses in the presence of microarthropods is provided, and the potential for biotic dispersal agents to alter fitness among moss genotypes in this relationship is highlighted. Expand
The adaptive background of nannandry: dwarf male distribution and fertilization in the moss Homalothecium lutescens
TLDR
Dwarf males (nannandry) appear to strongly reduce the problem of short fertilization distances in bryophytes, but the presence of water is still critical because the dwarf males are dependent on a certain level of humidity for recruitment and/or development. Expand
The overlooked dwarf males in mosses—Unique among green land plants
TLDR
The distribution of dioecious species and dwarf males among the latter was related to family membership, but showed little correlation with geographic area, and male dwarfism thus appears useful as a taxonomic character to define bryophyte families. Expand
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