Sphaerocarpos cf europaeus, a strange looking liverwort growing on bare disturbed soil in extensively managed arable fields, endangered across Europe 🌿

I think you're right, too, but it's been about ten years since I last saw this one.

One often sees microscopic fibres in moss samples, unfortunately.

It's a recipe for madness. I prefer it when species have names. New ones are great but it takes ages to describe them as collections are often not sufficient!

Both are seemingly undescribed. A Pleostigma forming larger (to 400 um diam.) glabrous perithecia and a Leptomeliola forming slightly larger, hirsute perithecia. All three species form black perithecia so it isn't super easy to tell them apart sometimes.

A figure panel showing a small waterfall on the left and two macro shots of infected Diplophyllum albicans on the right. No fungi are visible in the latter.

Habitat of vertical rock faces near waterfall. The fungus wasn't possible to see in the field - I only noticed some of the other, larger fungi on the plant.

Some detached shoots of Diplophyllum albicans infected by Bryobroma caudatum. There are tiny black fruitbodies and zig-zagging hyphae of the fungus on lower leaves of the plant.

Some macro photos of infected shoots.

Ah, I get it now. Hope the nanopore sorts it out!

That sounds tricky- perhaps it won't be the answer to all of my problems :)

It's been a mixed bag for me, with some species being more reliable than others. These tiny pyrenos are quite tricky to get clean as several species can grow together. I've gotten multiple amplicons the times I have tried them so far, but perhaps nanopore over Sanger seq will help in future...

True, I thought the same. But completely unrelated, I reckon, though Bryobroma hasn't yet been sequenced. I suspect it will be in Dothideomycetes or Eurotiomycetes. The mycelia are at least very different.

It is a parasite, it is just biotrophic rather than necrotrophic. The host is still weakened slightly and at least two other parasites that kill the cells are also present in the same sample.

Two shoots of the liverwort, Diplophyllum albicans, under the compound microscope at around x100 total magnification. They have dark reddish-brown stems and green leaves. There are small, black spots on some of the leaves along with tiny open networks of brown, anastomosing hyphae.

A ruptured black-brown fruitbody of Bryobroma caudatum with two hyaline, globose immature asci emerging from it. The fruitbody is sitting on a fragment of leaf tissue with mycelium on top of it. Image at x1000 magnification.

Some ellipsoidal, hyaline ascospores beside a ruptured fruitbody of the fungus. One with a tail is indicated by an arrow.

The mycelium of B. caudatum and related species is formed of conspicuous brown hyphae that mostly grow on top of the anticlines of the host cells, occasionally forming tiny pin haustoria that penetrate the cell walls (not easily visible unless sections are made). The host cells cytoplasm is intact and the underlying cells are living, with chloroplasts and oil bodies. Image at x1000 magnification.

Nice to find good material of a tiny fungus, Bryobroma caudatum, on the liverwort Diplophyllum albicans yesterday. The fungus produces tiny fruitbodies up to only 75 microns diam. and spores with little tails. The distinctive mycelium forms a network over the host cell walls without killing them.

The authors of the two papers. Carlos O. Miller standing on the left, looking down upon a couple of glass beakers. Opposite him, from the back to the front, are Malcolm H. van Saltza, Francis Shigeo Okumura, Folke K. Skoog and Frank M. Strong. Below the photo are the headers of their two papers describing kinetin, the first cytokinin: “Kinetin, a cell division factor from desoxyribonucleic acid” by Carlos O. Miller, Folke K. Skoog, Malcolm H. van Saltza and Frank M. Strong, and “Structure and synthesis of kinetin” by Carlos O. Miller, Folke K. Skoog, Francis Shigeo Okumura, Malcolm H. van Saltza and Frank M. Strong. Both published in 1955 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

#PlantScienceClassics #20: Kinetin & Cytokinins. In 1955 Carlos Miller, Folke Skoog & co-workers describe the first #Cytokinin and its role in promoting cell division and growth promotion. #Phytohormones #PlantScience #PlantDevelopment

pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Nice! Did you see if the mutants could make sporophytes? Those have a particularly distinct cuticle.

Ever wondered how the #cuticle, a hallmark of land plants, was established?

In our latest study, we show that the CUTIN SYNTHASE enzyme family was a key driver of this evolutionary innovation. #plantscience

▶️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

A thread 🧵 [1/8]

We sequenced the genome of 'desert ginseng' (Cistanche deserticola) - a leafless parasitic plant that gave up photosynthesis - and found it lost huge chunks of its own genome…but started stealing genes from its host!

Thanks to my collaborators Prof Huang + her talented team👏🏻

lnkd.in/evF5iU9G

Our new experimental evolution study across 30+ locations using the plant Arabidopsis thaliana —— we direct "see" adaptation and extinction to different climates at the genetic as it happens!

Read it in Science
dx.doi.org/10.1126/scie...

@ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social
@hhmi-science.bsky.social

A return visit to the Llyn peninsula for a ten day mossing Sesh, Saturday was back at Mynydd Tir-y Cwmwd were last year i discovered a new site for the nationally Scarce liverwort Cephaloziella dentata (toothed Threadwort) here it is amongst Cladonia @bbsbryology.bsky.social

Nice to find Riccia beyrichiana (Purple Crystalwort) on Saturday at Mynydd Tir-y Cwmwd,a new site for it on the Llyn Peninsula,a lovely chunky Riccia and in good amounts,nice @bbsbryology.bsky.social

Entosthodon attenuatus (Thin Chord-moss) on wet peaty soil on Mynydd Tir-y Cwmwd on Saturday,nice to see fruiting nicely , lovely cherry-red Rhyzoids on this species,I didn't look at those as only this patch so left alone @bbsbryology.bsky.social

Philinotis rigida (Rigid Apple-moss) at Mynydd Tir-y Cwmwd on Saturday, Spherical Capsules on a long Setae,a moss of wet Cliffs and river banks ,always nice to cast an eye over @bbsbryology.bsky.social

#Fernfriday While visiting a tropical greenhouse, I observed the abaxial surface of the fertile pinnae of Niphidium crassifolium, revealing globular sori that consist of an array of minute leptosporangia.

If you think this one's crazy, you should check out Diphyscium foliosum and Cryphaea heteromalla :)

Please RP 🕊️: Postdoc position in my budding group at OIST. Looking for a colleague to work at the interface of chloroplast biology, evo-devo, and synthetic biology. More info here 📃: www.oist.jp/careers/post...

Photo of a cluster of grey and mottled green lichen that consists of numerous, stalked structures topped with discs. The edges of the roundish discs are spiky. The ends of the spikes are reddish brown.

Cladonia lichen (Cladonia amaurocraea, I think). NWT, Canada. The photo covers about 5cm, left to right. #lichen #fungi #fungifriends

Mycena chloroxantha

Mycena chloroxantha photographed recently in Oxapampa, Peru. The round cells are cherocytes which make up the universal veil - whitish, spiny acanthocytes are also visible. Described in 1983 from Brazil by Rolf Singer.

Mushroom Observer # 628987 / iNat 341877230

#fungifriends #mycology #mycena

Now found in 5 Irish counties as of yesterday from Cos. Louth/Armagh and this marks the first for the east coast!

Phenologically has been recorded In July, September, October and March

#fungifriends #ireland #bryology #liverwort

a sign that says save the date in orange letters ALT: a sign that says save the date in orange letters

The #nonseedUK26 meeting will be held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on 15th December 2026. Please save the date. Further details will follow 😃

I found the RNeasy plant kit worked well for me. But if you are against kits, apparently trizol-based methods work.