Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 22 hrs ago
Common liverwort stalks carry water uphill to help sperm reach eggs
Researchers found that common liverwort stalks carry water upward along their outer surface, helping sperm reach eggs held above the ground.
The study focused on Marchantia polymorpha, a small plant whose sperm must swim through water to fertilize an egg.
Liverworts have no flowers or seeds, and they lack the water-carrying tissues found in larger plants.
The raised stalk helps spores spread, but holding eggs high above the damp ground makes fertilization harder.
The team found that tiny surface structures form a network that moves water up the stalk, and that the protein MpLAS helps shape those structures.
The stalk evolved before the water-carrying surface network, suggesting the plant gained the height for spore dispersal first and later developed a way to support fertilization.
The findings offer clues about how plants evolved to manage competing needs as they spread across land.
Common liverworts carry water up the outside of female stalks, helping sperm reach eggs held above the ground.
A study of Marchantia polymorpha found that tiny surface structures work together to move the water upward.
The stalk helps spores spread from a higher, drier spot, while the surface water helps fertilization.
The researchers concluded that the stalk evolved before the water-carrying surface structures.
- Who
- A research team led by Bo Xu, with Xiaotong Qi as first author.
- What
- The team found that common liverwort stalks carry water upward on their outer surface, helping sperm reach eggs.
- When
- The article was published on 2026-11-07. The study date is Not stated.
- Where
- The team studied Marchantia polymorpha, a common liverwort.
- Why
- The upward flow helps sperm reach eggs held above the damp ground, while the stalk raises spores to help them spread.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The female stalk evolved, helping spores spread from a higher position.
Surface structures that carry water up the stalk evolved.
- Species studied
- Marchantia polymorpha
- Research lead
- Bo Xu
- First author
- Xiaotong Qi
- Water route
- Up the stalk’s outer surface
- Evolutionary sequence
- The stalk evolved before the water-carrying surface structures