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Abstract Detail



Desiccation tolerance in bryophytes: perspectives from early career scientists

Stark, Lloyd [1].

Antheridia are Desiccation Tolerant in Bryum argenteum: Postrehydration Water Content Predicts Time to Sperm Release.

The potential that desiccation tolerance (DT) is a trait differentially expressed in life history phases other than adult shoots represents an understudied frontier. Building on the findings of a previous study which determined that free-living sperm of mosses are to a degree DT, antheridia of Bryum argenteum were assessed for the ability to tolerate air-dryness at equilibration with 50% relative humidity (RH) after slowly drying over a period of 2 days. A protocol is developed whereby desiccated antheridia, instead of immersing directly, are prehydrated prior to immersion in water, using either wicking of external water along perigonial shoots or by exposure to a saturated atmosphere (100% RH). Response variables included (1) release time, the time from immersion to sperm release, (2) sperm vitality, as measured by spermatocyte vibration or sperm motility, and (3) the proportion of antheridia in a perigonium releasing sperm. Water content was assessed on a dry weight basis, and found to predict the success of sperm release following a desiccating event, with exposure to 100% RH not entirely mitigating desiccation damage. If a male shoot with a terminal perigonium is allowed to desiccate slowly, equilibrate at 50% RH, and then prehydrated by planting in a saturated medium where only the shoot base contacts the medium allowing free water to wick up but not overtop antheridia, sperm release dynamics are similar to those of controls (undried perigonia).


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1 - Department Of Biological Sciences, School Of Life Sciences, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, 89154-4004, USA, 702/895-3119

Keywords:
rehydration
constitutive
inducible
hardening
dehardening.

Presentation Type: Symposium Presentation
Session: SY11
Location: Salon 8/The Shaw Conference Centre
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2015
Time: 4:45 PM
Number: SY11008
Abstract ID:1372
Candidate for Awards:None


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