Research Link will create a new kind of learning community for both students and faculty in the biological sciences. It will facilitate collaboration and encourage students to think and communicate science with their peers across the nation.” (Jim Hoerter, Ferris State University) The C-Fern Project is honored to be one of the participants involved in […]
28 July – 2 August 2006 Botanical Society of America Annual Meeting California State University-Chico CA 30 July 2006 Using the Original and Newly Improved Versions of C-Fern® in Inquiry-based Teaching C-FERN®, a derived strain of the tropical fern Ceratopteris, is a simple and rapidly developing organism that is adaptable to teaching a wide range […]
Gametophyte and sporophyte development in C-Fern
Dr. Stan Roux and colleagues study how the environmental stimuli of light and gravity alter patterns of growth and development in plants. Germinating spores of Ceratopteris richardii (C-Fern) are used as a single-cell model system to examine the effect of gravity on the orientation of nuclear migration and subsequent rhizoid development and growth. C-Fern was carried on the STS-93 […]
In some published formulations for C-Fern Basic Nutrient Medium (derived from modified Parker- Thompson’s medium), the potassium salt is incorrectly specified as K2HPO4. Please check your written materials and, if necessary, change the formula to read KH2PO4. In tests, both formulations give similar gametophyte growth, however, the use of K2HPO4 may result in poorer sporophyte […]
Spore Sowing and Density Calculations Through painstaking empirical analyses, we determined that there are about 1250 wild type C-Fern spores per mg, i.e. each spore weighs about 0.8 µg. One mg of C-Fern spores will inoculate 3.5 small Petri dishes with about 0.24 mg or 300+ spores per dish. For a typical 60 x 15 mm (about 22.5 cm²) Petri […]
For classroom or independent investigations, the following materials and supplies may be necessary. Culture Media and Media Preparation (per liter of prepared medium) inorganic salts for Basic C-Fern Nutrient Media OR pre-packaged OR prepared Basic C-Fern Nutrient Medium If using inorganic salts, supplies for weighing and preparing stock solutions (see Basic C-Fern Nutrient Medium recipe) […]
Ethyl Methane Sulfonate Formulation Error On page C3, line 33 in the C-Fern Manual (Additional Culture Instruction, Spore Mutagenesis): The line “39 mL 200 mM Na2HPO4 – H2O (FW 137.99; 2.67 g / 100 ml)” should read “39 mL 200 mM NaH2PO4 – H2O (FW 137.99; 2.76 g / 100 ml)”
C-Fern