Microscopy of Physcomitrella patens sperm cells.
Horst NA, Reski R.
Plant Methods. 2017;13:33.
The evolutionary invention of the embryo facilitated colonization of land by plants. Like in animals and humans, motile sperm cells of mosses swim to egg cells and fertilize them, initiating embryogenesis. Sperms are the only plant cells with microtubule-based flagella. Here, we describe methods to observe living sperm cells in Physcomitrella patens as prerequisite for a variety of signalling studies.
