An enhancer trap system to track developmental dynamics in Marchantia polymorpha.

A combination of streamlined genetics, experimental tractability and relative morphological simplicity compared to vascular plants makes the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha an ideal model system for studying many aspects of plant biology. Here we describe a transformation vector combining a constitutive fluorescent membrane marker with a nuclear marker that is regulated by nearby enhancer elements and use this to produce a library of enhancer trap lines for Marchantia. Screening gemmae from these lines allowed the identification and characterization of novel marker lines, including markers for rhizoids and oil cells.

What can hornworts teach us?

The hornworts are a small group of land plants, consisting of only 11 families and approximately 220 species. Despite their small size as a group, their phylogenetic position and unique biology are of great importance. Hornworts, together with mosses and liverworts, form the monophyletic group of bryophytes that is sister to all other land plants (Tracheophytes).

Evolution is driven by natural autoencoding: reframing species, interaction codes, cooperation and sexual reproduction.

The continuity of life and its evolution, we proposed, emerge from an interactive group process manifested in networks of interaction. We term this process . Here, we reason that survival of the fitted results from a natural computational process we term .

An optimized transformation protocol for Anthoceros agrestis and three more hornwort species.

Land plants comprise two large monophyletic lineages, the vascular plants and the bryophytes, which diverged from their most recent common ancestor approximately 480 million years ago. Of the three lineages of bryophytes, only the mosses and the liverworts are systematically investigated, while the hornworts are understudied. Despite their importance for understanding fundamental questions of land plant evolution, they only recently became amenable to experimental investigation, with Anthoceros agrestis being developed as a hornwort model system.

The medium-term effects of selective dorsal rhizotomy on gait compared to a matched cerebral palsy non-SDR group: A follow-up study.

Background: Selective dorsal rhizotomy (SDR) has been shown to improve gait in the short-term in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Further study is needed to look at the trajectory of outcomes over the longer-term.

Research Question: What are the medium-term effects of SDR on gait compared to a matched CP non-SDR group?

Methods: Participants underwent SDR at mean age 6.