Although consensus has now been reached on a general two-locus DNA barcode for land plants, the selected combination of markers (rbcL + matK) is not applicable for ferns at the moment. Yet especially for ferns, DNA barcoding is potentially of great value since fern gametophytes--while playing an essential role in fern colonization and reproduction--generally lack the morphological complexity fo...

After weaning, groups of rats were fed a semi-purified diet containing fiddlehead greens (the unfuried frond of the ostrich fern Matteuccia struthiopteris), mature bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum), or cycad meal (Cycas circinalis), or this diet plus aflatoxin B1. The groups fed 1-10% fiddlehead greens for 70-73 weeks developed no tumors, whereas those fed mature bracken fern for 67 weeks deve...

A new anatomically preserved fern, discovered from the basalmost Carboniferous of Australia, shows a unique combination of very primitive anatomical characters (solid centrarch cauline protostele) with the elaboration of an original model of the arborescent habit. This plant possessed a false trunk composed of a repetitive branching system of very small stems, which established it as the oldest...

A Ferns, which are usually colonizing different environments and their roots frequently present mycorrhization, have two adult stages in their life cycle, the sporophytic and the gametophytic phase. This paper describes the experimental mycorrhizal association between Pteris vittata leptosporangiate fern and a strain of Glomus intraradices during the life cycle of the fern, from spore germinati...

BACKGROUND, AIM, AND SCOPE Composting is being proposed as a pretreatment step before disposal of metal-rich biomass after phytoextraction process. This study determined the biomass reduction and arsenic transformation during composting As-rich biomass of hyperaccumulator Chinese brake fern (Pteris vittata L.). MATERIALS AND METHODS High-As fern biomass containing approximately 4,600 mg As kg...