Azolla's tiny fern could have a huge impact on climate change

M as Frodo in The Lord of the Rings Fern Azolla filiculoides proves that the little one can certainly pack a punch. This tiny aquatic fern, which is about the size of a single gnat, is the subject of a new study published in Nature Plants . Scientists say the brilliant green plant is complete with unique capabilities – and has the potential to help us mitigate the effects of climate change.

In the study published last week, an international team of scientists announced that they successfully sequenced the . the filiculoid genome as well as the genome of another floating fern known as Salvina cucullata . Co-author and Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California at Berkeley Carl Rothfels, Ph.D. says Inverse that having these genomes somewhat brings scientists closer to "understanding a part of of the crazy biology of these particular species. "

Rothfels says that one of the most "extraordinary" features of this fern is its ability to have a symbiotic relationship with cyanobacteria, which in turn gives it the ability to "fix" the fern. nitrogen. Nitrogen fixation is the process by which plants use the chemical element as fertilizer: most plants can not usually do this alone, but the blue-green cyanobacteria that live in the leaves Azolla allow this process to happen. In turn, Azolla can support rapid growth under favorable conditions

This is important for several reasons, the first being that the fern shows "a great promise as a biofuel," says Rothfel. While he's been used as a fertilizer for paddy fields in Asia over the last 1000 years, he and his team are now curious to know if it could be used as a sustainable fertilizer elsewhere. Its ability to help agricultural crops is compounded by its resistance to pests: Farmers have noticed for decades that insects do not generally like ferns, and now sequencing the genome Azolla reveals that He carries some genetic mutations that allow All this was worth Azolla the nickname "green manure", and co-author and badistant professor of Cornell University Fay-Wei Li, Ph. D. says that it is "perhaps the most economically important fern that has ever lived!"

But both Li and Rothfel note that the incredible ability of fern growth and prosperity could help humans save themselves from climate change.

"There was a mbadive Azolla 50 million years ago, the bloom in the Arctic was so important that geologists believed that it was causing a great deal Significant amount of CO2 (carbon dioxide) and helped cool the Earth, "says Li. “/>

Millions of years ago, this fern "Sequester so much carbon that it extinguishes the world." "Squeezes" conditions under the relatively cooler conditions we now experience, "says Rothfel.If we develop a huge amount of this tiny plant, we could get there new.