Sphagnum Moss Disperses Spores with Vortex Rings

Sphagnum Moss Disperses Spores with Vortex Rings -- Whitaker and Edwards 329 (5990): 406 -- Science
Sphagnum spores, which have low terminal velocities, are carried by turbulent wind currents to establish colonies many kilometers away. However, spores that are easily kept aloft are also rapidly decelerated in still air; thus, dispersal range depends strongly on release height. Vascular plants grow tall to lift spores into sufficient wind currents for dispersal, but nonvascular plants such as Sphagnum cannot grow sufficiently high. High-speed videos show that exploding capsules of Sphagnum generate vortex rings to efficiently carry spores high enough to be dispersed by turbulent air currents. Spores launched ballistically at similar speeds through still air would travel a few millimeters and not easily reach turbulent air. Vortex rings are used by animals; here, we report vortex rings generated by plants.

Medicine from Moss

Medicine from Moss: Bioreactor Technique May Offer Hope to People With Age-Related Blindness

ScienceDaily (July 21, 2010) — Diabetics use human insulin produced in bacteria in order to treat their metabolic disorder. Many other genetically engineered proteins are also on the advance. They are being used for diagnosis as well as for therapy.

Whereas insulin used to be extracted from slaughterhouse waste today it is produced genetically in bacteria. However, more complex proteins have to be synthesised in more complex organisms. This takes place mostly in bioreactors using animal cell lines. Biotechnologist Prof. Ralf Reski from Freiburg, Germany, has developed the moss Physcomitrella patens into a safe and inexpensive alternative supplier of medicine.

His group has now, under Dr. Eva Decker, for the first time succeeded in producing a human protein in a moss bioreactor, which has been assigned the "orphan drug" status by the respective EU authorities. This means the development and approval of such medication receive particular support from the authorities. In many people the amount of this protein decreases with old age -- with severe consequences. Eva Decker explains: "With the complement factor H we have produced a protein in moss that otherwise occurs only in blood and is important for the immune system. Not enough of this protein in older people is the main cause of blindness for 50 million people worldwide. This age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a problem, particularly in industrialised countries."

Biochemists from the Freiburg Centre for Systems Biology under Dr. Andreas Schlosser were able to show with the help of high-performance mass spectrometers that the human factor H engineered into and produced by moss was a complete protein. Infection biologists headed by Prof. Peter F. Zipfel from the Hans-Knöll-Institute in Jena, Germany, were able to prove in biological assays that factor H from moss is fully functional. "Currently factor H is not available in pharmacies, so treatment for AMD with this protein is not possible. To date recombinant production of factor H was barely feasible. I am convinced that for the first time the moss bioreactor is a promising option," says Peter Zipfel.

This work was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Freiburg Initiative for Systems Biology and the Cluster of Excellence BIOSS.

Dr. Annette Büttner-Mainik, first author of the publication, was a Kekulé scholarship holder from the endowment fund of the German Chemical Industry (FCI).

"It will take a while before medication produced in moss is available in pharmacies," says Ralf Reski, member of the Innovation Think Tank of the governor of Baden-Wuerttemberg. "We are further optimising the moss bioreactor using methods from Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology. However, the implementation of clinical studies and the setting up of industrial production is long-winded and expensive; this is the task of industry and not of university research."

Moss Horticulture

IAB BLOG

I am able to grow many different species of mosses in my moss gardens. I have also established moss gardens at two public gardens, Luthy Botanical Garden in Peoria, Illinois and Illinois Central College Horticulture Garden in East Peoria, Illinois.

If you are interested in growing moss for whatever reason then this is a synopsis of how I do it.

I use an artificial mat system of three different materials. These materials are not visible once the moss is established.

The first layer is thin plastic sheeting, 5 ml thick for example. It can be either clear or black. The plastic is placed on the ground.

The second layer is spun polyester or polypropylene material commonly called synthetic felt or craft felt and is sold in cloth or material stores.

Moss is placed on top of the felt. The felt acts as a sponge and stores water for the moss and the thin plastic sheeting prevents the soil from wicking the moisture away.

The third layer is black colored tulle, fine not coarse mesh with a matte finish. Tulle is pronounced “tool”. The tulle is almost invisible when it is on top of the moss. As the moss grows, the tulle disappears into the moss. Despite the small mesh size, the o in this sentence is the size of the tulle mesh, even Polytrichum commune will grow up through tulle. The tulle keeps weed seeds from getting into the moss garden and prevents birds from tearing up the moss garden in search of nesting material or invertebrates.

Many genera such as Thuidium, Hypnum, Rhodobryum and Bryoandersonia for example will grow directly on the felt. Some species of mosses like Dicranum scoparium and Leucobryum glaucum do require a thin 1 cm layer of hardwood mulch placed under the moss and on top of the felt.

The three layer moss mat system should be contoured to gently drain water away from the mat and not allow water to pool.

Some of the mosses I am able to grow: Anomodon attenuatus, Bartramia pomiformis, Brachythecium salebrosum, Bryoandersonia illecebra, Bryum caespiticium, Climacium americanum, Dicranum flagellare, Dicranum scoparium, Dicranum viride, Entodon seductrix, Hedwigia ciliata, Hypnum imponens, Leucobryum glaucum, Plagiomnium cuspidatum, Polytrichum juniperinum, Polytrichum commune, Rhodobryum roseum, Thuidium delicatulum.

Thallose liverworts and Sphagnum species can also be grown on the artificial mat but require additional procedures to prevent desiccation.

Moss can serve as a wonderful green ground cover. Vascular plants can be planted in the moss garden by cutting an X in the three layers and directly planting the flower, bush or fern in the exposed soil.

I do not water my moss gardens but if you do, use only rainwater or distilled. Other water sources such as ground water, well water or surface waters, i.e. lakes, ponds or river waters are unacceptable and will all fail eventually because of pH, alkalinity, hardness and dissolved salts. Watering is generally unnecessary and often counterproductive, particularly when growing moss on an artificial mat system.

My goal is to encourage the use of moss as a ground cover in shady areas of our gardens and landscapes. Any botanic garden, arboretum or nature center that wishes free assistance in establishing a moss garden can contact me or visit the website.

National and state parks are off limits to collecting moss. I ask landowners for permission to collect. Most yards have shady areas where moss can be found.

Currently I am doing a lot of work on propagation techniques.

The primary commercial source of live mosses in the United States is Moss Acres in Pennsylvania. Their website is www.mossacres.com. Al Benner and his father Dave are to be commended for encouraging moss gardening in the United States.

I have written a handbook, New Methods in Moss Gardening, which is based on moss gardening workshops I have given over the years. As a former potable supply water chemist with a B. A. in Biology and lengthy horticultural experience I have spent years growing many species of mosses and developing this simple inexpensive low maintenance method of moss gardening. This approach is explained in much more detail in the handbook. The handbook is available to IAB and Bryonet users for $11 plus shipping and handling at this link:

http://www.newmossgardening.com/Bryonet.html

You can visit my website www.newmossgardening.com for more information.

Rick Smith

Although this material is posted on IAB Blog reprinting of this material is not permitted without permission.

Note: Picture used for cover of handbook is Hypnum imponens growing under Sedum.

Tread carefully this summer: our plants are in peril

Tread carefully this summer: our plants are in peril - The Irish Times - Sat, Jul 17, 2010

Remedial farm plans have taken some effect, but most of the heather has vanished for good, and with it many of the botanically famous rarities of Ireland’s mountain plant life. Some typical damage was spelled out this spring in the UK science journal Field Bryology , under the heartfelt heading: “The tragedy of the Twelve Bens of Connemara: is there a future for Adelanthus lindenbergianus ?” As little plants most people don’t know exist, the liverworts tend to get stuck with only scientific names, “Lindenberg’s featherwort” is at least a little easier to say, but what is so special about it? Like the mosses, liverworts were some of the earliest land plants of the planet, branching off the vegetable evolutionary tree below the ferns and then the plants with flowers. Many of them seek out out the shade of heather and other dwarf shrubs among the rocky scree of rain-soaked oceanic mountains. There they form a mat, often a striking mix of colours, that helps weld the stones together.

Grimmia website

I herewith should like to draw your attention to a new bryophyte website
on the genus /Grimmia/ Hedw.
The results of 20 years study on this genus have been evaluated and
summarized in this site.

A website on the bryophyte genus/Grimmia/ Hedw. has been published:
www.grimmiasoftheworld.com
On this website, more than 2000 macro- and microscopic photos of all 96
recognized /Grimmia/ species have been placed.
The site contains further a European checklist, a worldchecklist, a
table with the worlddistribution and major ecological and morphological
characters of all recognized 96 /Grimmia /species.

With kind regards,

Henk Greven
Koninginneweg 2
3941 DP Doorn
The Netherlands

Botany Photo of the Day: Campylopus introflexus

Botany Photo of the Day: Campylopus introflexus

While participating in last month's Burnaby Lake BioBlitz on behalf of the garden, local bryologist Steve Joya introduced me to this moss species and suggested it would be a good Botany Photo of the Day.

When the words "invasive alien plant species" pop up, people tend to think of large plants that affect the landscape on a human scale: kudzu or Japanese knotweed or Gunnera tinctoria. Few people will initially imagine an invasive moss, but Campylopus introflexus fits the profile: .....
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