Article
Plant Sciences
Hong Qian, Jian Zhang, Mei-Chen Jiang
Summary: This study generated fern species lists based on data from GBIF and evaluated their completeness at different spatial scales. The results showed that GBIF data has low sampling completeness, which can bias studies on species diversity and hotspot identification. It concludes that fern species lists derived from GBIF are generally very incomplete and not suitable for studies requiring high completeness.
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiong Huang, Wenling Wang, Ting Gong, David Wickell, Li-Yaung Kuo, Xingtan Zhang, Jialong Wen, Hoon Kim, Fachuang Lu, Hansheng Zhao, Song Chen, Hui Li, Wenqi Wu, Changjiang Yu, Su Chen, Wei Fan, Shuai Chen, Xiuqi Bao, Li Li, Dan Zhang, Longyu Jiang, Xiaojing Yan, Zhenyang Liao, Gongke Zhou, Yalong Guo, John Ralph, Ronald R. Sederoff, Hairong Wei, Ping Zhu, Fay-Wei Li, Ray Ming, Quanzi Li
Summary: This study presents new insights into the evolution of fern genomes and stem formation in tree ferns by assembling the genome of Alsophila spinulosa. The researchers also discovered a phenolic compound called alsophilin and provided the molecular basis for its biosynthesis. The findings contribute to our understanding of unique aspects of tree fern biology and fill a gap in the plant genomic landscape.
Article
Plant Sciences
Xiao Wu, Xing Liu, Shaoling Zhang, Yun Zhou
Summary: This article summarizes the recent progress in understanding the mechanisms of formation and proliferation of different types of meristems in fern gametophytes, and discusses the conserved and diversified mechanisms underlying meristem cell proliferation in seed-free vascular plants.
Article
Plant Sciences
Jinlong Li, Xiaoping Chen, Panpan Wu, Karl J. Niklas, Yimiao Lu, Quanlin Zhong, Dandan Hu, Lin Cheng, Dongliang Cheng
Summary: This study expands the concept of plant economics spectrum to include ferns, showing that fern leaf and root traits can also form a spectrum. Ferns have different resource acquisition strategies under high light and high nutrient environments, but environmental changes have minimal impact on their strategies.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lucas Vieira Lima, Alexandre Salino, Michael Kessler, Germinal Rouhan, Weston L. Testo, Caio Suzart Argolo, Thais Elias Almeida
Summary: In this study, we investigated the monophyly of genera in the Gleicheniaceae family using extended sampling and genomic data. The results confirmed the monophyly of most genera, except for Sticherus. We also found that while most Gleicheniaceae genera originated during the Mesozoic, some genera showed diversification in the Neogene and Quaternary periods. Our findings suggest the importance of reticulation and polyploidy in this diversification process, and identify Rouxopteris and Stromatopteris as evolutionary relics.
MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Joel H. Nitta, Eric Schuettpelz, Santiago Ramirez-Barahona, Wataru Iwasaki
Summary: This study introduces an automated pipeline for creating a continuously updated fern tree of life (FTOL) using DNA sequence data from GenBank. The pipeline combines whole plastomes and commonly sequenced plastid regions to obtain a high-resolution global fern phylogeny. By resolving synonyms using a curated reference taxonomy, the FTOL includes about 40% more species than previous global fern phylogenies. The FTOL and its associated datasets are available through a web portal and R packages, providing immediate access to the most up-to-date and comprehensive fern phylogeny.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
D. Blaine Marchant, Guang Chen, Shengguan Cai, Fei Chen, Peter Schafran, Jerry Jenkins, Shengqiang Shu, Chris Plott, Jenell Webber, John T. Lovell, Guifen He, Laura Sandor, Melissa Williams, Shanmugam Rajasekar, Adam Healey, Kerrie Barry, Yinwen Zhang, Emily Sessa, Rijan R. Dhakal, Paul G. Wolf, Alex Harkess, Fay-Wei Li, Clemens Roessner, Annette Becker, Lydia Gramzow, Dawei Xue, Yuhuan Wu, Tao Tong, Yuanyuan Wang, Fei Dai, Shuijin Hua, Hua Wang, Shengchun Xu, Fei Xu, Honglang Duan, Guenter Theissen, Michael R. McKain, Zheng Li, Michael T. W. McKibben, Michael S. Barker, Robert J. Schmitz, Dennis W. Stevenson, Cecilia Zumajo-Cardona, Barbara A. Ambrose, James H. Leebens-Mack, Jane Grimwood, Jeremy Schmutz, Pamela S. Soltis, Douglas E. Soltis, Zhong-Hua Chen
Summary: The genome of the model fern species Ceratopteris richardii exhibits a remarkably dynamic evolution, with rapid changes in content and structure following a whole-genome duplication around 60 million years ago. These changes include gene loss, tandem duplications, multiple horizontal gene transfers, and transposable elements insertion, providing insights into defense-related gene families and the evolution of seed plants.
Article
Veterinary Sciences
Antonio Pavicic, Marketa Zajickova, Michaela Sadibolova, Gabriela Svobodova, Petra Matouskova, Barbora Szotakova, Lenka Langhansova, Petr Marsik, Lenka Skalova
Summary: Most drugs used in the treatment of helminthiasis have become ineffective due to drug resistance in helminths. Using medicinal plants and their products provides an environmentally friendly approach to treat helminthiasis. In this study, methanol extracts from eight selected European ferns were tested for their anthelminthic activity against the nematode Haemonchus contortus. Among the ferns tested, Dryopteris aemula extract inhibited egg hatching and Athyrium distentifolium, Dryopteris aemula, and Dryopteris cambrensis were effective against H. contortus adults. Major components of these anthelmintically active ferns were identified as quercetin, kaempferol, luteolin, 3-hydroxybenzoic acid, caffeic acid, coumaric acid, and protocatechuic acid.
VETERINARY RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Nai-Ying Yang, Xin-Lei Jia, Chang-Xu Sui, Shi-Yi Shen, Xi-Ling Dai, Jing-Shi Xue, Zhong-Nan Yang
Summary: Reconstructing the development of sporangia in seed-free vascular plants is crucial for understanding spore production. This study used fluorescence imaging and confocal microscopy to reconstruct the key steps of sporangia development, with a focus on the cell wall structures of tapetum and spore mother cells. By staining the cell wall and cytoplasm, the researchers observed the development of sporangia in Pteris multifida and revealed the clear cell lineages involved. This work improves our overall understanding of fern spore formation.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Biology
Jacob S. Suissa, William E. Friedman
Summary: A comprehensive study using fern data reveals three paradigm shifts in fern vascular evolution and identifies developmental changes in body size as a major driver of vascular architecture shifts. The research also highlights the explosive phenotypic innovation during the early Carboniferous radiation of crown-group ferns and the decoupling of vascular evolution rates from lineage diversification in the rise of eupolypods during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic periods.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Sang Hee Park, Jung Sung Kim, Hyoung Tae Kim
Summary: A new allotetraploid species, A. pseudocapillipes, originating from the hybridization between A. capillipes and A. tenuicaule, is discovered in limestone areas of South Korea. Molecular and cytological analyses confirm the maternal origin from A. capillipes and the presence of genotypes from both parent species. The leaf characteristics and absence of gemma are intermediate between the parental species. Although having 32 spores per sporangium, A. pseudocapillipes is considered to be a sexually reproducing fern.
Article
Plant Sciences
Kyra A. Prats, Craig R. Brodersen
Summary: The epiphytic resurrection-or desiccation-tolerant fern Pleopeltis polypodioides can survive extreme desiccation and recover physiological activity within hours of rehydration. The study found that xylem tracheids in the stipe embolized during dehydration but refilled after rehydration along with structural changes in the stele. Photosynthetic rate and chlorophyll fluorescence of the fern recovered quickly after rehydration, despite a broken hydraulic connection to the rhizome.
Article
Plant Sciences
Ondrej Hornych, Alzbeta Ferova, Kiyotaka Hori, Jiri Kosnar, Libor Ekrt
Summary: Premise Apomixis and hybridization are two essential factors in plant evolution, but the conditions leading to the formation of apo-sex hybrids in ferns are poorly understood.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Kim-Kristine Mueller, Lukas Pfeifer, Lina Schuldt, Peter Szovenyi, Sophie de Vries, Jan de Vries, Kim L. Johnson, Birgit Classen
Summary: The composition of plant cell walls has changed significantly during the evolution of tracheophytes, and the cell wall of ferns, as the sister lineage to seed plants, is crucial for understanding evolutionary changes and innovations in seed plants. The study characterizes the arabinogalactan proteins (AGPs) from fern genera Azolla, Salvinia, and Ceratopteris and reveals differences in AGP composition between ferns and seed plants. The findings also highlight the diversity of AGPs across different plant lineages and shed light on the evolution of tracheophytes' cell walls.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Min Kook Kim, Ji Soo Kang, Amit Kundu, Hyung Sik Kim, Byung-Mu Lee
Summary: This study aimed to determine the optimal boiling time to reduce ptaquiloside (PTA) and assess the risk of consuming bracken fern (BF) containing PTA. High-performance liquid chromatography showed a 99% reduction in PTA concentration after boiling BF for 20 min. Risk assessment results indicated that boiling BF for 20 min resulted in safe levels of cancer and non-cancer exposure to PTA. However, exposure to PTA was considered unsafe under non-boiled BF and maximum daily exposure scenarios. Thus, boiling BF for at least 20 min is recommended to minimize PTA exposure.
