Bryophyte Evolutionary Genetics
A collection stuff on bryophytes, evolution, and genetics
2024 has been a great year for the common liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha) in Edinburgh. It is almost everywhere you look. I started collecting M. polymorpha in 2021. During the subsequent years, I realised that the species was harder to find during the summer months. This year, at the beginning of September, it is abundant in … Continue reading A Marchantia year – Urban liverworts in Edinburgh
Bryo cultures have to be watered and that can be tricky! I tend to water mine by spraying them or by pouring on distilled water. This can cause problems when a culture is started from small material such as individual gemmae, bulbils, or tubers, which can easily be displaced. Also, these small diaspores can easily … Continue reading Dessert containers again
Everybody seems to know that DNA, genes, and genomes are made up of the four letters A, T, G, and C. But how many of these are there in a genome? Do different species have different genome sizes? What is the situation in bryophytes? And, how much DNA is there in a whole bryophyte plant? … Continue reading How much DNA is there in a bryophyte?
Bryophytes are wonderful plants and I would like to think that I do not need to do much canvassing on their behalf. Besides being fascinating in their own right, bryophytes have some properties that make them the ideal study objects for genetic research. In this post, I am going to tell you why. Small sizeFirst … Continue reading Why genetics is great for studying bryophytes
Hello world! This is Hannes Becher writing. I am a geneticist who is enthusiastic about bryophytes and evolution and you shall soon hear more about these topics! Currently, I am a postdoc in Alex Twyford's plant evolution and genomics lab at the University of Edinburgh, where I work on eyebrights. These are parasitic flowering plants, which you may also hear about in the future. During my … Continue reading What this is going to be about…
Bryophyte Evolutionary Genetics 