Marchantia polymorpha L. has been established as a model liverwort species for understanding plant evolution, and several genetic transformation technologies have been developed. Recently, we described a simplified Agrobacteriummediated genetic transformation method termed AgarTrap (Agar-utilized Transformation with Pouring Solutions) that uses sporelings (S-AgarTrap) or gemmae/gemmalings (G-Ag...

We here describe in detail the characterization and molecular evolution of group II introns in the mitochondrial genome of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha. We find that 18 introns of the 25 group II introns can be assigned by their similarities to six clusters, indicating an intra-genomic propagation of one ancestral intron each into the respective clusters in the liverwort mitochondrial ge...

The liverwort Marchantia polymorpha L. is one of the key model plants in evo-devo studies, and an increasing number of transgenic and mutant lines have been established. For reliable long-term preservation of M. polymorpha plants, spores have been used, but crossing is indispensable to obtain them. Gemmae, however, are vegetative clones and readily available in large numbers without crossing, t...

A model of DNA sequence evolution applicable to coding regions is presented. This represents the first evolutionary model that accounts for dependencies among nucleotides within a codon. The model uses the codon, as opposed to the nucleotide, as the unit of evolution, and is parameterized in terms of synonymous and nonsynonymous nucleotide substitution rates. One of the model's advantages over ...

The objective of this study was to determine how topdressing or incorporating fertilizer with stratified mulched substrates could affect the growth Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ‘Snow Queen’, a popular ornamental plant, and liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) bittercress (Cardamine flexuosa), two common nursery weed species. Five different substrate treatments were evaluated, which included three compos...

Gas exchange is essential for multicellular organisms. In contrast to the circulatory systems of animals, land plants have tissues with intercellular spaces (ICSs), called aerenchyma, that are critical for efficient gas exchange. Plants form ICSs by two different mechanisms: schizogeny, where localized cell separation creates spaces; and lysogeny, where cells die to create ICSs. In schizogenous...