Ecology
Mosses, common in Hawaii, turn out to be clones that have been reproducing themselves for 50,000 years, and also seem to be the oldest multicellular organisms on On Earth, scientists suggest.
Peat moss called Sphagnum palustre is native to the Northern Hemisphere, but the moss found in Hawaii appears to be reproduced by cloning without using sex spores.
All moss samples have a rare genetic marker, which leads scientists to assume that they come from a single progenitor plant that was brought to Hawaii by the wind thousands of years ago.
Since plants of the genus S. palustre are same-sex, sexual reproduction is impossible in this case, said researcher Eric Karlin, a plant ecologist at Ramapo College in New Jersey.
“You might expect one progenitor plant to have such a rare trend. It is unlikely that there could be several such plants,” he said.
Ancient moss is surprisingly diverse
S. palustre moss fossils were discovered in a 23,900-year-old peatland near the top of Mount Kohala on the Big Island of the Hawaiian Archipelago. After studying these fossils, Carlin and his colleagues concluded that this moss was already growing in Hawaii then, and maybe even earlier.
A team of scientists analyzed the genetic diversity of modern plants on the island and determined the frequency of mutations. Using this frequency, the researchers estimated how long it took for different moss populations to acquire modern genes — about 50,000 years.
Genetic analysis also revealed amazing diversity, which is not in line with the popular belief that clones are genetically poor because they cannot change DNA, as is the case with sexual reproduction.
“These clones are not identical because mutations are constantly taking place,” Carlin said. “So over a significant period of time, you can find clone offspring that are genetically different. apart. However, it is likely that there are other plant populations on the islands with a similar history that we have not yet studied.”
Foreign moss is a problem for native plants
Due to the fact that these plants do not have sexual reproduction, moss was probably only able to survive at the top of Mount Kohala, said Carlin. During sexual reproduction, plants produce pores that fly in the air, so plants can spread over long distances.
The man, unknowingly, helped the moss spread. Over the past century, people have used moss as a packaging material, which has caused moss to spread throughout the Big Island as well as Oahu. “Peat moss grew a lot as soon as it hit Oahu,” Carlin said.
However, due to its spread, moss has replaced other plants, which scientists consider a problem. “Moss has completely changed the ecology of the surface layer. Instead of soil, there are carpets of moss on the surface of the earth, and the seeds of many other plants simply cannot survive in such conditions, “said Carlin.