Microarthropods mediate sperm transfer in mosses
Author
Summary, in English
Among flowering plants, animals commonly act as pollinators. We showed that fertile moss shoots attract springtails and mites, which in turn carry moss sperm, thereby enhancing the fertilization process. Previously, fertilization of mosses was thought to depend on the capacity of individual sperm to swim through a continuous water layer. The role of microarthropods in moss fertilization resembles the role of animals as pollinators of flowering plants but may be evolutionarily much older because of the antiquity of the organism groups involved.
Department/s
Publishing year
2006
Language
English
Pages
1255-1255
Publication/Series
Science
Volume
313
Issue
5791
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Topic
- Ecology
Status
Published
Project
- Fertilization syndromes in bryophytes
Research group
- Soil Ecology
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1095-9203