Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 18, 2025
04:32
An Induction System for Clustered Stomata by Sugar Solution Immersion Treatment in Arabidopsis thaliana Seedlings
Published on: February 15, 2019
6.1K
With Over 60 Independent Losses, Stomata Are Expendable in Mosses
Karen S Renzaglia1, William B Browning1, Amelia Merced2
1Plant Biology Department, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, United States.
Frontiers in Plant Science
|June 18, 2020
Summary
Mosses have evolved to lose stomata multiple times, indicating they are not essential for spore dispersal. This evolutionary flexibility highlights alternative strategies for sporogenesis and spore release in bryophytes.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
- Bryophyte Research
Background:
- Bryophyte stomata are uniquely situated on sporangia, differing from tracheophyte leaf stomata.
- Stomatal loss in mosses is a known phenomenon but its evolutionary extent is underexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the evolutionary history and extent of stomatal loss in mosses.
- To understand the anatomical and developmental adaptations enabling stomata expendability in mosses.
Main Methods:
- Phylogenetic analysis of known stomata occurrences and numbers per capsule in mosses.
- Comparative anatomical studies of mosses with and without stomata, focusing on intercellular spaces and capsule architecture.
Main Results:
- Identified 40 families and 74 genera with stomata loss, at least 63 representing independent events.
- No clear trends in stomatal loss or number across moss diversity.
- Early divergent moss lineages exhibit stomatal loss or pseudostomata.
- Moss capsule anatomy varies, with astomate taxa showing internal spaces for spore development and dispersal, demonstrating alternative functional strategies.
Conclusions:
- Stomata are not foundational for sporogenesis and spore dispersal in mosses.
- Diverse capsule architectures in mosses provide alternative, effective mechanisms for spore release and development.
- The evolutionary loss of stomata is common and feasible in mosses due to alternative anatomical solutions.
Related Concept Videos
02:04Regulation of Transpiration by Stomata
30.6K
During photosynthesis, plants acquire the necessary carbon dioxide and release the produced oxygen back into the atmosphere. Openings in the epidermis of plant leaves is the site of this exchange of gasses. A single opening is called a stoma—derived from the Greek word for “mouth.” Stomata open and close in response to a variety of environmental cues.
30.6K
01:57Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss
27.7K
Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.
27.7K
03:24Seedless Vascular Plants
66.3K
Seedless Vascular Plants Were the First Tall Plants on Earth
66.3K
01:27C4 Pathway and CAM
48.4K
Most plants use the C3 pathway for carbon fixation. However, some plants, such as sugar cane, corn, and cacti that grow in hot conditions, use alternative pathways to fix carbon and conserve energy loss due to photorespiration. Photorespiration is the process that occurs when the oxygen concentration is high. Under such conditions, the rubisco enzyme in the Calvin cycle binds O2 instead of CO2, which halts photosynthesis and consumes energy.
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...
C4 Pathway
The C4 pathway is used by plants such as...
48.4K
01:20Tonicity in Plants
32.0K
Plant cells maintain appropriate osmotic balance in extreme conditions. For instance, plants in dry environments store water in vacuoles, limit the opening of their stoma, and have thick, waxy cuticles to prevent unnecessary water loss. Some species of plants that live in salty environments store salt in their roots. As a result, water osmosis occurs in the root from the surrounding soil.
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...
Tonicity
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water depending on the solute...
32.0K
00:53Tonicity in Plants
59.2K
Tonicity describes the capacity of a cell to lose or gain water. It depends on the quantity of solute that does not penetrate the membrane. Tonicity delimits the magnitude and direction of osmosis and results in three possible scenarios that alter the volume of a cell: hypertonicity, hypotonicity, and isotonicity. Due to differences in structure and physiology, tonicity of plant cells is different from that of animal cells in some scenarios.
59.2K