Abstract
Endopolyploidy occurs when DNA replication is not followed by mitotic nuclear division, resulting in tissues or organisms with nuclei of varying ploidy levels. Endopolyploidy appears to be a common phenomenon in plants, though the prevalence of endopolyploidy has not been determined in bryophytes (including mosses and liverworts). Forty moss species and six liverwort species were analyzed for the degree of endopolyploidy using flow cytometry. Nuclei were extracted in LB01 buffer and stained with propidium iodide. Of the forty moss species, all exhibited endopolyploid nuclei (mean cycle value =0.65±0.038) except for the Sphagnum mosses (mean cycle value =0). None of the liverwort species had endopolyploid nuclei (mean cycle value = 0.04 ± 0.014). As bryophytes form a paraphyletic grade leading to the tracheophytes, understanding the prevalence and role of endopolyploidy in this group is important.
Highlights
Polysomaty is the occurrence of nuclei of varying ploidy levels in the same individual, often associated with different cell or tissue types
This condition of nuclei of varying ploidy levels, known as endopolyploidy, is a result of endoreduplication, which occurs when DNA replication is not followed by mitosis
Three independent replicates were analyzed on separate days using flow cytometry, except for three of the liverwort species, where there was insufficient tissue
Summary
Polysomaty is the occurrence of nuclei of varying ploidy levels in the same individual, often associated with different cell or tissue types. This condition of nuclei of varying ploidy levels, known as endopolyploidy, is a result of endoreduplication, which occurs when DNA replication is not followed by mitosis. One suggested role of endopolyploidy relates directly to the “Nucleotypic Theory,” which states that DNA content directly impacts cell volume and other phenotypic traits, which in turn affects various aspects of organism form and function [6, 7]. Endopolyploidy is correlated with life history strategy and phylogenetic affiliation [8] and is influenced by various environmental factors including temperature [10, 11], light [12], drought [13], and salinity [14]
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