Abstract Detail

Bryology and Lichenology

Carey, Sarah [1], McDaniel, Stuart [2].

Developing near-universal sex-linked markers for mosses.

The proportion, condition, and distribution of males and females are critical parameters for understanding the life history and long term viability of a dioecious species. However, in many organisms visually distinguishing females and males is virtually impossible throughout much of their lifecycle. In mosses, sex can only be phenotypically identified by the presence of sporophytes (on females) or gametangia (on either sexes), both of which can be ephemeral, cryptic, or absent. Mosses represent the second largest group of land plants, with an estimated 12,000 species. Of these ~60% have separate sexes. A complete understanding of moss life history variation requires a means for identifying sex in mosses at any stage of development. Recently we identified three genes that were sex-linked in the ancestor of the Bryopsida (~90-95% of moss species). Here we used alignments of these genes to develop sex-specific primers to amplify sex-specific markers across the phylogeny of mosses. We tested these primers on moss samples either grown from single-spore isolates or from pools of sex-expressing, sex-specific tissue. We found one gene that we can successfully amplify in most samples tested, and we verified the successful PCR amplifications with Sanger sequencing. Our data suggest this marker is an ideal candidate for identifying sex across the moss phylogeny. These results will enable bryologists to answer numerous previously intractable research questions concerning the life history of mosses, including those related to sex ratio, sex-biased dispersal, the evolution of sexual dimorphism, and paternity analyses.

1 - University of Florida, Biology Department, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
2 - Biology Department, University Of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, United States

Keywords:
moss
sex-linked marker
Sex Chromosomes
Ceratodon purpureus.

Presentation Type: Poster
Session: P, Bryology and Lichenology Posters
Location: Arizona Ballroom/Starr Pass
Date: Monday, July 29th, 2019
Time: 5:30 PM This poster will be presented at 6:15 pm. The Poster Session runs from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Posters with odd poster numbers are presented at 5:30 pm, and posters with even poster numbers are presented at 6:15 pm.
Number: PBL008
Abstract ID:674
Candidate for Awards:None