title: Genome size expansion and the relationship between nuclear DNA content and spore size in the Asplenium monanthes fern complex (Aspleniaceae).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Homosporous ferns are distinctive amongst the land plant lineages for their high chromosome numbers and enigmatic genomes. Genome size measurements are an under exploited tool in homosporous ferns and show great potential to provide an overview of the mechanisms that define genome evolution in these ferns. The aim of this study is to investigate the evolution of genome size and the relationship between genome size and spore size within the apomictic Asplenium monanthes fern complex and related lineages.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Comparative analyses to test for a relationship between spore size and genome size show that they are not correlated. The data do however provide evidence for marked genome size variation between species in this group. These results indicate that Asplenium monanthes has undergone a two-fold expansion in genome size.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings challenge the widely held assumption that spore size can be used to infer ploidy levels within apomictic fern complexes. We argue that the observed genome size variation is likely to have arisen via increases in both chromosome number due to polyploidy and chromosome size due to amplification of repetitive DNA (e.g. transposable elements, especially retrotransposons). However, to date the latter has not been considered to be an important process of genome evolution within homosporous ferns. We infer that genome evolution, at least in some homosporous fern lineages, is a more dynamic process than existing studies would suggest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK. robdyer@hotmail.co.uk.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Dyer
authors.forename: Jaume
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pellicer
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Savolainen
authors.forename: Ilia J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Leitch
authors.forename: Harald
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000235:genetics*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D029624:Ferns / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000235:genetics*; D059646:Genome Size / Q000235:genetics*; D009929:Organ Size; D010802:Phylogeny; D011003:Ploidies; D011309:Preservation, Biological; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013170:Spores / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant