Date: Fri, 18 Apr 1997 09:38:50 +1
From: Jamie Goode <jgoode@cibafound.org.uk>
To: bryonet-l@mtu.edu
For my PhD Thesis I looked at the cytoskeleton and morphogenesis of
the moss protonema (with Jeff Duckett). As well as culturing moss
protonema for this work, as a sort of 'hobby' I tried growing just
about any moss I could lay my hands on from spores, gemmae and
vegetative material. It is really easy to do, but with some mosses
you have to play around a bit. Possibly easiest way to do it is to
take ripe capsules, sterilize them in hypochlorite with a little
wetting agent, and then burst them in a sterile petri dish in say 5-
10 ml sterile distilled water. Using a sterile pippette, inoculate
the plates of nutrient agar (we used a medium called Parker's, but
any standard inorganic nutrient medium should work). Once the
protonema have germinated, it might be best to thin them out
carefully (don't let them dry out if you transfer them). You can also
grow protonema from gemmae in this way, but you have to be more
careful with the sterilization. Bear in mind also that protonema will
regenerate from just about any part of the moss plant, but leaves
etc. don't take kindly to being dunked in hypochorite.
In our experience most mosses develop gametophores without the
addition of growth regulators. In this way I have grown scores of
mosses, including Tetraphis pellucida, Aulocomnium androgynum, Ulota
crispa, Orthotricum Obtusifolium, a range of Spagnum species, a
range of Bryum species, Funaria, Rhytidiadelphus loreus,
Dicranoweisia cirrata and a few others I can't remember. Jeff Duckett
has probably had a go at culturing everything that grows!
It is great fun! Much of this stuff is published, but if anyone wants
any more information, or would like to share their experiences in
culturing protonema, I'd love to kow.
Jamie Goode
Ciba Foundation
41 Portland Place
W1N 4BN
Phone: 0171 636 9456
Fax: 0171 580 4570
Homepage
http://www.cibafoundation.demon.co.uk/
Personal page http://www.wordnet.co.uk/jandfi.htm
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