Bryophyte Spores Tolerate High Desiccation Levels and Exposure to Cryogenic Temperatures but Contain Storage Lipids and Chlorophyll: Understanding the Essential Traits Needed for the Creation of Bryophyte Spore Banks.
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plants-11-01262.pdf
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1.77 MB
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Resource type
Journal article
Date published
May 7, 2022
Abstract
Understanding the desiccation and freezing tolerance of bryophyte spores is vital to explain how plants conquered land and current species distribution patterns and help to develop efficient ex situ conservation methods. However, knowledge of these traits is scarce. We investigated tolerance to drying (at 15% relative humidity [RH] for two weeks) and freezing (1 h exposure to liquid nitrogen) on the spores of 12 bryophyte species (23 accessions) from the UK. The presence of storage lipids and their thermal fingerprint, and the levels of unfrozen water content, were determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The presence of chlorophyll in dry spores was detected by fluorescence microscopy. All species and accessions tested tolerated the drying and freezing levels studied. DSC suggested that 4.1–29.3% of the dry mass is storage lipids, with crystallization and melting temperatures peaking at around −30 °C. Unfrozen water content was determined <0.147 g H2O g−1 dry weight (DW). Most of the spores investigated showed the presence of chlorophyll in the cytoplasm by red autofluorescence. Bryophyte spores can be stored dry at low temperatures, such as orthodox seeds, supporting the creation of bryophyte spore banks. However, the presence of storage lipids and chlorophyll in the cytoplasm may reduce spore longevity during conventional storage at −20 °C. Alternatively, cryogenic spore storage is possible.
Project(s)
Priority 2: Trait Diversity and Function
Funder
| Funder name | Awards |
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK Government, Unied Kingdom | |
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom | Pilot Study Fund |
Erasmus+, European Union | |
Journal title
Plants
Volume
11
Issue
9
Article number
1262
Publisher
MDPI AG
Place of publication
Basel, Switzerland
eISSN
2223-7747
Date accepted
May 5, 2022
Official URL
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In Copyright
Additional information
IF = 3.889 (2021-2022) ; (This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Cryobiotechnology: Progress and Prospects)