Blasia pusilla is the only species in the liverwort genus Blasia. This species establishes a symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria of the genus Nostoc, which are housed in special cavities, called auricles, occurring on the ventral (underside) surface of the thallus.
Blasia is distinguished from Cavicularia by the presence of a collar around the base of the sporophyte capsule, and a scattered arrangement of sperm-producing antheridia. Rhizoids and gemmae of Blasia may be parasitized by the mushroom Blasiphalia.
The genus name of Blasia is in honour of Blasius Biagi (ca. 1670 - 1735), an Italian clergyman from village of Vallombrosa.
External links
- Data related to Blasia pusilla at Wikispecies
- Media related to Blasia pusilla at Wikimedia Commons
References
Adams, David G.; Duggan, Paula S. (2008-03-01). "Cyanobacteria–bryophyte symbioses". Journal of Experimental Botany. 59 (5): 1047–1058. doi:10.1093/jxb/ern005. ISSN 0022-0957. PMID 18267939. https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/59/5/1047/540713 ↩
Vries, Sophie de; Vries, Jan de (2022). "Evolutionary genomic insights into cyanobacterial symbioses in plants". Quantitative Plant Biology. 3: e16. doi:10.1017/qpb.2022.3. ISSN 2632-8828. PMC 10095879. PMID 37077989. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10095879 ↩
Liaimer, Anton; Jensen, John B.; Dittmann, Elke (2016-11-01). "A Genetic and Chemical Perspective on Symbiotic Recruitment of Cyanobacteria of the Genus Nostoc into the Host Plant Blasia pusilla L." Frontiers in Microbiology. 7: 1693. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.01693. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 5088731. PMID 27847500. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5088731 ↩
Burkhardt, Lotte (2022). Eine Enzyklopädie zu eponymischen Pflanzennamen [Encyclopedia of eponymic plant names] (pdf) (in German). Berlin: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin. doi:10.3372/epolist2022. ISBN 978-3-946292-41-8. Retrieved January 27, 2022. 978-3-946292-41-8 ↩