On the Control of Antheridium Formation in the Fern Species Lygodium japonicum.

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Abstract
It is demonstrated that the prothalli of L. japonicum (Schizaeaceae) produce a substance which controls the formation of antheridia. The antheridium-inducing activity of the medium is stable to boiling for 10 minutes at both pH 2 and 12. It is adsorbed on charcoal and destroyed by ashing. The results are considered to show that this antheridium-inducing substance differs from the substance which controls the same developmental event in many spp. of the Polypodiaceae. The results further indicate that the Lygodium factor is also chemically distinct from the substance which controls antheridium formation in Anemia phyllitidis which also belongs to the Schizaeaceae. The individuals that first attain the reproductive phase in L. japonicum give rise to 1 or 2 archegonia before the 1st antheridium initial appears. This sequence of sex-organ formation is reversed in the prothalli which subsequently attain the reproductive phase. All prothalli attain the archegonial phase first if they are isolated, 1/flask at an early stage of development. In contrast, all prothalli attain the antheridial phase first if they are all provided with the antheridium-inducing substance at an early stage of development. It is concluded that the more slowly growing individuals in a gametophyte population of L. japonicum attain the antheridial phase first because they respond to the antheridium-inducing substance produced by the more rapidly growing gametophytes.

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