Effects of pH on sex organ differentiation and sexual reproduction in the endangered aquatic fern Ceratopteris p teridoides. Issue 1 (1st February 2022) - Dong, Yuanhuo
Abstract: Ceratopteris pteridoides is an endangered aquatic floating fern in China. The effects of different pH values on spore germination, sex organ differentiation in C. pteridoides are studied by a control experiment of setting pH gradients of 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 6.3, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 9 in this paper. The results show that spore germination rates (26.1% and 19.30%, respectively) in pH = 4 and pH = 9 are significantly lower ( P <0.05) than in reference group (45.63%, pH = 6.3), indicating that spore germination in C . pteridoides is adaptable over a wide range of pH. The optimum pH for spore germination, sex organ differentiation, and gametophyte development in C. pteridoides is between 6 and 7. An ANOVA of the different pH values after cultivation showed that hermaphrodite gametophyte emergence rates in 4, 5, 7.5, 8, 9 pH values were significantly lower ( P <0.05) than those of the reference group. This may pose a threat to the sexual reproduction of the wild population of Ceratopteris pteridoides .