Other fern labs and research groups
Barker Lab – University of Arizona
Chambers Lab – Eastern Kentucky University
Der Lab – University of California, Fullerton
Grusz Lab – University of Minnesota, Duluth
Korall Lab – Uppsala Universitet
Kessler Lab – Universität Zürich
Li Lab – Boyce Thompson Institute at Cornell University
Perrie Lab – Museum of New Zealand
Pittermann Lab – University of California, Santa Cruz
Pryer Lab – Duke University
Rothfels Lab – Utah State University
Rouhan Lab – Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle
Schuettpelz Lab – Smithsonian Institution
Testo Lab – University of Vermont
Tuomisto Lab – University of Turku
Vasco Lab – Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT)
Watkins Lab – Colgate University
Wefferling Lab – University of Wisconsin, Green Bay
Wolf Lab – University of Alabama, Huntsville
Zhang Lab – Missouri Botanical Garden
Taiwan Pteridophyte Research Group
Laboratorio de Sistemática de Helechos at Universidad Complutense Madrid
Teaching resources
Resources for teaching about flagellate plants (ferns, mosses, and pine trees)
- Teaching activities for mosses, ferns, and pine trees are available on this page.
Resources for teaching plant life cycles
- The two files provided here both describe a similar group activity for teaching alternation of generations; one version requires props that help to illustrate the life cycle, and the other version needs minimal supplies to carry out. Both versions describe how to conduct a group activity, ideally for 10 or more people, that has students act out the basic homosporous plant life cycle by taking on roles that correspond to the various phases/stages of the life cycle. The version with props was written by Jennifer Blake-Mahmud (Hope College), modified from a lesson by J. Eddie Watkins (Colgate University), and the version without props was written by Emily Sessa (New York Botanical Garden), modified from Dr. Blake-Mahmud’s version. The activity writeups are provided here as part of the broader impact activities of NSF award #2310485.
- Below is a set of slides for teaching alternation of generations that uses the animal life cycle as a starting point for anchoring students as they learn the new terms and steps associated with plants. These slides are provided under a CC BY-NC license (please give credit, and any use is allowed other than commercial). These slides were designed following available guidelines for accessibility (e.g., here, here).
Data
1. Low-coverage genome skimming data from six species of ferns. Available from Utah State University Digital Commons. Data published in:
- Wolf PG, EB Sessa, DB Marchant, F-W Li, CJ Rothfels, EM Sigel, MA Gitzendanner, CJ Visger, JA Banks, DE Soltis, PS Soltis, KM Pryer, and JP Der. (2015) An exploration into fern genome space.Genome Biology and Evolution 7(9): 2533–2544.
2. Mating data from 115 species of ferns. Available for download from Dryad (doi: 10.5061/dryad.b0b68) and as a searchable database at Ferns and Lycophytes of the World. Data published in:
- Sessa, EB, WL Testo, & JE Watkins, Jr. (2016) On the widespread capacity for, and functional significance of, extreme inbreeding in ferns. New Phytologist 211(3): 1108–1119.
3. List of all complete fern plastid genomes available on GenBank. List is maintained by Paul Wolf and is updated regularly.
4. Databases of fern DNA/RNA available to researchers. List is maintained by Paul Wolf and is updated regularly.