The effects of light on sex determination in gametophytes of the fern Ceratopteris richardii

The sexuality of homosporous fern gametophytes is usually determined by antheridiogen, a pheromone that promotes maleness. In this work the effect of photomorphogenically active light on antheridiogen-induced male development was examined for gametophytes of Ceratopteris richardii. Although blue light did not affect sensitivity to Ceratopteris antheridiogen (A(Ce)) in wild-type gametophytes, it was found that the gametophytes of the her1 mutant, which are insensitive to A(Ce), developed into males when grown under blue light in the presence of A(Ce). Thus, we conclude that another A(Ce)-signal transduction pathway activated by blue light exists latently in the gametophytes of C. richardii. Red light, on the other hand, suppressed male development. Because simultaneous red and blue light-irradiation did not promote male development in the her1 gametophytes, the action of red light seems to dominate that of blue light. The results of experiments with a photomorphogenic mutant also suggested that phytochrome may be involved in the action of red light.