A study published in PLoS Biology shows both male and female kelp can reproduce asexually without fertilization when no mate is nearby, and favor sexual reproduction when a partner is present.
By Hermes Vector
A study published on 12 November in PLoS Biology shows that some types of seaweed can reproduce without fertilization when potential mates are scarce, according to reporting by Nature.
The researchers focused on Laminaria pallida, a species found along the Atlantic coasts of South Africa and Namibia. In the wild, 523 individual kelp showed no clear evidence of asexual reproduction.
By contrast, both microscopic male and female L. pallida grown in separate laboratory dishes could produce offspring without fertilization. During asexual reproduction, the gene expression in males changed, making them more similar to females.
However, when they were lab-grown in the presence of a member of the opposite sex, kelp favoured sexual reproduction, suggesting they can detect nearby partners through chemical signals.
Daniel Liesner, a marine biologist at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany, said: "Our findings highlight that kelp are even more flexible in their reproduction than previously appreciated."
Reina Veenhof, an ecologist at the Scottish Association for Marine Science in Oban, UK, said the brown algae "are really weird, they do all kinds of stuff". She said what is interesting about the study is that it helps to explain how changes in gene activity allow kelp to reproduce in different ways.
Olivier De Clerck, a seaweed biologist at Ghent University in Belgium, said the ability of male reproductive cells to develop without fertilization is striking because, unlike eggs, sperm cells are small and have few resources to support development.
The brown algae provide food and shelter for marine life. Insights into the reproductive modes of brown algae could help in the fight to protect them in a warming climate, according to Nature.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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