Sex-specific volatile compounds influence microarthropod-mediated fertilization of moss

@article{Rosenstiel2012SexspecificVC,
  title={Sex-specific volatile compounds influence microarthropod-mediated fertilization of moss},
  author={Todd N. Rosenstiel and Erin E. Shortlidge and Andrea Natalie Melnychenko and James F. Pankow and Sarah M. Eppley},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2012},
  volume={489},
  pages={431-433}
}
Sexual reproduction in non-vascular plants requires unicellular free-motile sperm to travel from male to female reproductive structures across the terrestrial landscape. Recent data suggest that microarthropods can disperse sperm in mosses. However, little is known about the chemical communication, if any, that is involved in this interaction or the relative importance of microarthropod dispersal compared to abiotic dispersal agents in mosses. Here we show that tissues of the cosmopolitan moss… 
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Abstract Mosses inhabit nearly all terrestrial ecosystems and engage in important interactions with nitrogen‐fixing microbes, sperm‐dispersing arthropods, and other plants. It is hypothesized that…
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