''Anthoceros agrestis'', commonly called field hornwort, is a bryophyte of the genus ''

Anthoceros ''Anthoceros'' is a genus of hornworts in the family Anthocerotaceae. It is distributed globally. Species of ''Anthoceros'' are characterized by having a small to medium-sized, green thallus that is more or less lobed along the margins. Etymolo ...

''. It has complicated taxonomies.

Taxonomy

This species of ''

'' is known for having enzymes like cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase (EC 1.14.13.11), a cytochrome P450-dependent hydroxylase. Cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase (C4H; EC 1.14.13.11) is one of the first known plant cytochrome P450 monooxygenases and also one of the best-characterized cytochrome P450 hydroxylases from higher plants.

Description

''Anthoceros agrestis'' grows as a thin, dark green, rosette-like

thallus Thallus (plural: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms wer ...

up to in diameter, superficially resembling a leafless

liverwort The Marchantiophyta () are a division of non-vascular land plants commonly referred to as hepatics or liverworts. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry only a single set of g ...

. The surface is punctured with hollows containing the male organs. The spore-producing bodies lack a stalk or capsule but produce erect, cylindrical structures that turn black as they mature. They then split open to reveal the spore-bearing central spindle and release the black spores.

Distribution and habitat

This hornwort has a circum-boreal distribution across temperate Europe and North America. It is a lowland species found in moist soil in arable fields and ditches. It is listed as vulnerable in the Irish Red Data Book as it is known from fewer than five locations in the country. It occurs at a single location in Northern Ireland, in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, and because of its rarity there, it is listed as a Northern Ireland Priority Species.

Chemistry

Production of

Rosmarinic acid Rosmarinic acid, named after rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus'' Linn.), is a polyphenol constituent of many culinary herbs, including rosemary (''Salvia rosmarinus'' L.), perilla (''Perilla frutescens'' L.), Salvia officinalis, sage (''Salvia offic ...

and a rosmarinic acid 3'-O-beta-D-

glucoside A glucoside is a glycoside that is derived from glucose. Glucosides are common in plants, but rare in animals. Glucose is produced when a glucoside is hydrolysed by purely chemical means, or decomposed by fermentation or enzymes. The name was o ...

in suspension cultures of this

hornwort Hornworts are a group of non-vascular Embryophytes (land plants) constituting the division Anthocerotophyta (). The common name refers to the elongated horn-like structure, which is the sporophyte. As in mosses and liverworts, hornworts have a ...

was also discovered in 2005. Anthocerodiazonin, an

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Some synthetic compounds of similar ...

, was isolated from in vitro cultures of the species. Also, six glutamic acid amides, N-(4-hydroxybenzoyl)-glutamic acid, N-(3,4-dihydroxybenzoyl)-glutamic acid, N-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoyl)-glutamic acid, (E)-N-(isoferuloyl)-glutamic acid, (Z)-N-(isoferuloyl)-glutamic acid and (Z)-N-(p-coumaroyl)-glutamic acid were obtained as natural products.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q341574 Hornworts