Sexual differentiation of cell types in plants

Antheridiogen determines sex in ferns via a spatiotemporally split gibberellin synthesis pathway

Excerpt: “Homosporous ferns have evolved a mechanism to favor cross-fertilization by controlling the sex ratio among individuals or prothalli within the population with the aid of antheridiogens. Antheridiogens are pheromones…”

Reported as:

Researchers find ferns communicate with one another to decide gender

Excerpt: “The intercommunication abilities demonstrated by the ferns is an example of a growing field in botany that some have taken to calling plant neurobiology—when plants exhibit behavior that resembles activities of animals.”

My comment to Science Magazine

Biologically-based cause and effect in these ferns appears to parallel what is known about biophysically-constrained thermodynamic cycles of nutrient-dependent protein biosynthesis and degradation in other genera, which is controlled by the metabolism of nutrients to species-specific pheromones.

From an atoms to ecosystems perspective this links nutrient uptake to RNA-directed DNA methylation; RNA-mediated amino acid substitutions; and to pheromone-controlled chromosomal rearrangements associated with ecological speciation but not necessarily associated with mutations, natural selection, and the evolution of biodiversity.

Have homosporous ferns somehow evolved a mechanism that appears to link the epigenetic landscape to the physical landscape of DNA in the organized genomes of species from microbes to man? To me it seems more likely that ecological variation led to RNA-mediated ecological adaptations like those that are manifested in the morphological and behavioral phenotypes of other living organisms with cell types that are differentiated by amino acid substitutions.

For examples, see: Signaling Crosstalk: Integrating Nutrient Availability and Sex “The mechanism by which one signaling pathway regulates a second provides insight into how cells integrate multiple stimuli to produce a coordinated response.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3932994/

See also: Feedback loops link odor and pheromone signaling with reproduction “Indications that GnRH peptide plays an important role in the control of sexual behaviors suggest that pheromone effects on these behaviors might also involve GnRH neurons.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16290036

The link from microbes (yeasts) to mammals seems to be nutrient-dependent amino acid substitutions, like those Dobzhansky (1973) reported in Nothing in Biology Makes Any Sense Except in the Light of Evolution “…the so-called alpha chains of hemoglobin have identical sequences of amino acids in man and the chimpanzee, but they differ in a single amino acid (out of 141) in the gorilla.” https://www.jstor.org/stable/4444260

If what others are reporting in the context of mutations in the Ebola viruses are ecological adaptations, our response to the threat may need to be reconsidered in the context of reports like this one: Identification of two amino acid residues on Ebola virus glycoprotein 1 critical for cell entry. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168170206001882

My comment to the phys.org site:

“…plants exhibit behavior that resembles activities of animals.”

That suggests conserved molecular mechanisms of the nutrient-dependent pheromone-controlled physiology of reproduction extend across all genera, as does everything else currently known about the physics, chemistry, and molecular

biology of biophysically-constrained protein biosynthesis and degradation. Indeed, it would be incredibly odd if these “…ferns have evolved an antheridiogen-mediated communication system“The communication system clearly exemplifies how ecological variation leads to ecological adaptations via RNA-directed DNA methylation and amino acid substitutions that differentiate cell types, which are manifested in the morphological and behavioral phenotypes and ecological speciation in all other genera.

If ferns somehow evolved that level of organism-level complexity, their evolution would seem like a miracle that could be compared to their ability to ecologically adapt.

About James V. Kohl 1308 Articles
James Vaughn Kohl was the first to accurately conceptualize human pheromones, and began presenting his findings to the scientific community in 1992. He continues to present to, and publish for, diverse scientific and lay audiences, while constantly monitoring the scientific presses for new information that is relevant to the development of his initial and ongoing conceptualization of human pheromones. Recently, Kohl integrated scientific evidence that pinpoints the evolved neurophysiological mechanism that links olfactory/pheromonal input to genes in hormone-secreting cells of tissue in a specific area of the brain that is primarily involved in the sensory integration of olfactory and visual input, and in the development of human sexual preferences. His award-winning 2007 article/book chapter on multisensory integration: The Mind’s Eyes: Human pheromones, neuroscience, and male sexual preferences followed an award winning 2001 publication: Human pheromones: integrating neuroendocrinology and ethology, which was coauthored by disinguished researchers from Vienna. Rarely do researchers win awards in multiple disciplines, but Kohl’s 2001 award was for neuroscience, and his 2007 “Reiss Theory” award was for social science. Kohl has worked as a medical laboratory scientist since 1974, and he has devoted more than twenty-five years to researching the relationship between the sense of smell and the development of human sexual preferences. Unlike many researchers who work with non-human subjects, medical laboratory scientists use the latest technology from many scientific disciplines to perform a variety of specialized diagnostic medical testing on people. James V. Kohl is certified with: * American Society for Clinical Pathology * American Medical Technologists James V. Kohl is a member of: * Society for Neuroscience * Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology * Association for Chemoreception Sciences * Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality * International Society for Human Ethology * American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science * Mensa, the international high IQ society