Symbioses between plants and nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria are benchmark biological systems to understand mutualism and patterns of coevolution. The diversity of cyanobacteria associated to non-vascular land plants is still being unraveled, with a huge gap in knowledge from tropical areas, especially in hornworts. Hornworts are arguably the oldest land plant lineage with a widespread symbiosis with cyanobacteria (Villarreal & Renzaglia 2015). We focus on the Neotropical horn...

As part of his undergraduate research project, Philip Bell-Doyon surveyed the Panamanian endemic cycad Zamia pseudoparasitica from May to July 2018 (here a previous paper from his project). The species is the only strictly epiphytic gymnosperm and its life history is little known due to the inaccessibility of the plants. He used single-rope and prussik-knot tree climbing techniques to estimate population density and ant-garden specificity were evaluated. Zamia pseudoparasitica is locally com...

Stigomena is a genus of cyanobacteria that is often the photobiont associated with the lichen genus Stereocaulon. To elucidate the evolutionary relationships between Stereocaulon and Stigonema and assess whether there is specificity or selectivity at the ecosystem or species levels, we performed phylogenetic analyses on specimens collected throughout Eastern Canada. We generated ITS sequences from the fungal component of the symbiosis and sequences from the operon rbcL-rbcX and the trnL ...

Le sexe est répandu dans l’arbre de la vie. La reproduction sexuée est très importante pour la survie et la maintenance de toutes les espèces complexes. Néanmoins, la clonalité et d’autres méthodes de reproduction asexuée existent, particulièrement chez les plantes. L’anthocérote Nothoceros aenigmaticus est un exemple d’une plante qui n’a pas de reproduction sexuée. Par ailleurs, les organes males (anthéridies) ne développent pas de spermatozoïdes fonctionnels. Cette plante se trouve dans le...

We live grim times and our lives have been deeply impacted by the COVID-19. However, we continue to do research, and our remote work (télétravail in French), publishing two articles on our most dear group of plants: the hornworts. Hornworts are probably the most overlooked of all plant groups. In the last weeks, three important papers have been published focused on hornworts. The first paper published by a group of talented Chinese colleagues described the nuclear genome of a dioicous horn...

Dennis and Marta attended the CEN Annual Symposium 2020 in Montreal.   Dennis presented the results of his phylogeographic study on the moss species Racomutrium lanuginosum. Dennis used population genomics tools to assess the phylogeographic structure of this wide-spread moss. The preliminary results suggest the presence of at least three genetic groups in Racomitrium lanuginosum. Here his poster. Marta shared her first results on viral diversity associated with the reindeer lichen...

Marta Alonso García has published a monograph of the moss genus Chionoloma.  Chionoloma belongs to one of the largest moss families, Pottiaceae (1450 species in ca. 77 genera). Her work is based on the morphological analysis of more than 2600 specimens resulting in 22 species and one variety. Marta's work is mine of information on morphology, distribution and biogeography of this moss genus. Congratulations Marta!

Philip Bell-Doyon and our colleagues just published a recent paper on the coralloid root of Zamia pseudoparasitica. Using a combination of Sanger-sequencing, 16S metagenomics and whole-genome sequencing, we have elucidated the bacteriome of this Panamanian endemic species. One hundred and sixty‐five amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were found in at least two of our 27 samples amplified for 16S. Nostocales, Rhizobiales, and Acetobacterales were the three most diverse and abundant orders o...

The Villarreal lab has been awarded a  Canada Research Chair in genomics and metabolomics of the symbiosis between tropical plants and microbes.  The chair will allow us to study the microbiome, genomic underpinnings and chemical richness of the symbiosis between tropical gymnosperms, nitrogen-fixing bacteria and fungi. The chair will establish the core Symbiotic Microbial Group (SMG) that will continue close collaboration with leaders in the field and provide the students with the opportuni...

Kathleen Pryer is visiting Laval University and the Louis-Marie Herber this week. Kathleen has an impressive career working on the phylogeny and evolution of seed-free vascular plants, especially ferns.   A short list with some of her prominent papers: Eily, A.N, K.M. Pryer, and F.-W. Li. 2019. A first glimpse at genes important to the Azolla–Nostoc symbiosis. Symbiosis 77. Yang, E.J., C.Y. Yoo, J, Liu, H. Wang, J. Cao, F.-W. Li, K.M. Pryer, et al. 2019. NCP activates chloro...