Gametophyte evolution, Hymenasplenium murakami-hatanakae Nakaike, the fifth family to produce independent gametophytes

NEWS - Nakaike spleenwort (Hymenasplenium murakami-hatanakae Nakaike) can survive for long periods without a spore-producing sporophyte. Researchers report that H. murakami-hatanakae undergoes alternation of generations as an independent gametophyte, the only one in the suborder Eupolypods II (Aspleniinae).

Aspleniineae appear to have evolved independent gametophytes to adapt to rocky and isolated environments. The research opens the way to elucidating gametophyte evolution and other important questions in plant ecology. A diversity of fern species reproduce and fill environmental niches.

Noriaki Murakami of Tokyo Metropolitan University in Tokyo, along with a team from Showa University in Yamanashi, and the National Museum of Nature and Science in Ibaraki, collected specimens from Izu-Oshima Island in southeastern Japan, and used DNA analysis to trace the generations.

Aspleniineae is a suborder called Eupolypods II that includes 30 percent of the ferns on Earth and is a rare group. Studying this species further promises to reveal more about how ferns diversify and adapt.

Plants and algae have a complex cycle that they use to reproduce. Each species has two generations in the cycle, a sporophyte that has two sets of chromosomes (diploid) and a gametophyte that has one (haploid). When the gametophyte matures, it produces gametes to produce a diploid zygote.

The zygote continues to divide and eventually becomes a sporophyte. The sporophyte produces spores through a process that halves the number of chromosomes. These spores divide and develop into gametophytes, and the cycle continues.

Sporophytes and gametophytes generally depend on each other for nutrition, but ferns have a special place in biology because they are independent of each other, raising the intriguing possibility that they can live long periods without each other or live as independent gametophytes.

Murakami and his team collected H. murakami-hatanakae that live in dark, humid environments on rocks along warm-climate rivers in Japan and Taiwan. The team collected specimens on Izu-Oshima Island and used DNA techniques to identify the species. DNA extracted from chloroplasts to identify sporophytes and gametophytes was then compared. They found that the gametophytes of this species can survive for long periods in an environment completely isolated from the spores.

Original research

Yoneoka, K., Fujiwara, T., Kataoka, T. et al. Morphological and functional evolution of gametophytes in epilithic Hymenasplenium murakami-hatanakae (Aspleniaceae): The fifth family capable of producing the independent gametophytes. Journal of Plant Research (2024). DOI:10.1007/s10265-024-01553-0

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