BLOSSOMING TREASURES OF BIODIVERSITY 35. Mosquito Ferns (Azolla species) – tiny ‘super plants’

نویسندگان

  • Ernest Small
  • Stephen J. Darbyshire
چکیده

Biodiversity is threatened by humankind’s continuing usurpation of our planet’s physical space and resources, and the associated damage to the landscape and atmosphere. Food production is widely acknowledged to be the most important human activity that needs to be addressed in order to mitigate the current biodiversity and environmental crises. In this contribution we feature obscure plants called Mosquito Ferns, whose minute size belies their incredible potential. Nicknamed ‘super plants’, these can not only produce food more rapidly than virtually any other life form, but do so in biodiversity-friendly ways that minimise use of space and energy resources. Mosquito Ferns are poised to become leading players in the search for sustainable relationships with the natural world.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Studies on Molecular Identification of Anabaena Cyanobionts of Azolla Species

Azolla is a genus of free-floating water fern which is widely distributed in aquatic habitats of the tropics and temperate regions. It is one of few vascular plants known to exhibit a symbiotic association with N2fixing blue green algae, Anabaena sp. In view of this, a study was carried out on molecular identification of Anabaena strains isolated from three Azolla species. The selected Azolla s...

متن کامل

Metabolic Adaptation, a Specialized Leaf Organ Structure and Vascular Responses to Diurnal N2 Fixation by Nostoc azollae Sustain the Astonishing Productivity of Azolla Ferns without Nitrogen Fertilizer

Sustainable agriculture demands reduced input of man-made nitrogen (N) fertilizer, yet N2 fixation limits the productivity of crops with heterotrophic diazotrophic bacterial symbionts. We investigated floating ferns from the genus Azolla that host phototrophic diazotrophic Nostoc azollae in leaf pockets and belong to the fastest growing plants. Experimental production reported here demonstrated...

متن کامل

Azolla — A Model Organism for Plant Genomic Studies

The aquatic ferns of the genus Azolla are nitrogen-fixing plants that have great potentials in agricultural production and environmental conservation. Azolla in many aspects is qualified to serve as a model organism for genomic studies because of its importance in agriculture, its unique position in plant evolution, its symbiotic relationship with the N2-fixing cyanobacterium, Anabaena azollae,...

متن کامل

Distribution and abundance of larval Coquillettidia perturbans in a Florida freshwater marsh.

All instars of larval Coquillettidia perturbans were found in the same habitats, but early instar larvae were more aggregated than later instars. Larvae were most numerous in areas dominated by arrow-arum (Peltandra virginica) and maidencane (Panicum hemitomon), less so in areas dominated by sedges (Carex spp.) and miscellaneous mixed vegetation, and least abundant in pickerelweed (Pontederia c...

متن کامل

Between Two Fern Genomes

Ferns are the only major lineage of vascular plants not represented by a sequenced nuclear genome. This lack of genome sequence information significantly impedes our ability to understand and reconstruct genome evolution not only in ferns, but across all land plants. Azolla and Ceratopteris are ideal and complementary candidates to be the first ferns to have their nuclear genomes sequenced. The...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره   شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2011