Desiccation tolerance in bryophytes: costs and benefits related to moss reproduction

• Grant number: 21/09506-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: April 01, 2022
• End date: March 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Pant Physiology
• Principal Investigator: Fábio Pinheiro
• Grantee: Wagner Luiz dos Santos
• Supervisor: Lloyd Stark
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 18/24397-0 - How does sexual systems relates to reproductive traits, genetic diversity and thermotolerance in Fissidens Hedw. (Fissidentaceae, bryopsida)?, BP.DR

Abstract

Desiccation tolerance is the ability of an organism to lose all or most of its intracellularwater and return to metabolic activities after rehydration. Different strategies and mechanismsrelated to the resilience to desiccation are found in different groups of plants. Bryophytespresent characteristics that make them vulnerable to desiccation events, such as poikilohydry(inability to maintain the water potential different from the relative humidity of the air), butmany species grow in extremely xeric environments, indicating that desiccation tolerance is afundamental strategy in this group. Furthermore, in these ecosystems, bryophyte species showa certain lack of sexual reproduction compared to humid environments. The low rate of sexualreproduction may be related to desiccation tolerance and to sexual systems (monoicous anddioicous). In turn, the latter present subdivisions according to the disposition of the gametangiaand/or gametoecia in the gametophytes. The aim of our research project is to investigate therelationship between desiccation tolerance and the reproductive biology of tropical mosses. Theproject will be carried out in three stages: 1) assessment of the behavior of different sexual systems under different drying conditions; 2) investigation of differences in desiccationtolerance in a rhizautoicous moss at different ontogenetic stages; and 3) comparison of the sexspecific responses to desiccation in a monoicous species. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DOS SANTOS, WAGNER LUIZ; BORDIN, JUCARA; PORTO, KATIA CAVALCANTI; PINHEIRO, FABIO. Life-history traits and density dependence in metapopulations of a tropical moss: a monoicous species that is almost dioicous. Oecologia, v. N/A, p. 12-pg., 2022-12-15. (18/24397-0, 20/02150-3, 21/09506-0)

DOS SANTOS, WAGNER LUIZ; PORTO, KATIA CAVALCANTI; BORDIN, JUCARA; PINHEIRO, FABIO; BISANG, IRENE. The spatial arrangement of sexes is related to reproductive allocation in mosses: a comparative study of reproductive allocation in three different monoicous sexual systems. ANNALS OF BOTANY, v. 131, n. 5, p. 12-pg., 2023-04-02. (21/09506-0, 20/02150-3, 18/24397-0)