''Chorisodontium aciphyllum'' is a species of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

found primarily on both sides of the

Drake Passage The Drake Passage (referred to as Mar de Hoces Hoces Sea"in Spanish-speaking countries) is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atla ...

. The species exhibits an extreme degree of

cryptobiosis Cryptobiosis or anabiosis is a metabolic state of life entered by an organism in response to adverse environmental conditions such as desiccation, freezing, and oxygen deficiency. In the cryptobiotic state, all measurable metabolic processes st ...

– the ability of a life form to enter a non-

metabolic Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cel ...

state, extending life indefinitely.

Description

''Chorisodontium aciphyllum'' grows in banks along the Antarctic coast in the Drake Passage region. It has also been found in Argentina, Chile, Antarctica, New Zealand, and

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east ...

. As the moss banks grow taller, the layers more than an inch below the surface turn brown from lack of sun exposure and eventually become part of the

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surfac ...

. The mounds of moss can grow to be more than tall. ''Chorisodontium aciphyllum'' was first described by

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of ...

and

William M. Wilson William M. Wilson (1799–1871) was an English botanist, known for his focus on bryology. Life The second son of Thomas Wilson, a druggist, he was born at Warrington (which was then in Lancashire, and later transferred to Cheshire) on 7 June 1799 ...

in 1844 as ''Dicranum aciphyllum'' in the ''

London Journal of Botany London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major se ...

''.

Viktor Ferdinand Brotherus Viktor Ferdinand Brotherus (28 October 1849 – 9 February 1929), Finnish botanist who studied the mosses (Bryophyta), best known for authoring the treatment of 'Musci' in Engler and Prantl's ''Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien''. Personal life ...

reclassified the species into its current genus in 1924.

Cryptobiosis

In 2014, terrestrial ecologist Peter Convey and his colleagues from the

British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of global issues, and to provide an active presence in the Antarctic on ...

and the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

discovered that ''C. aciphyllum'' remains viable after being frozen for more than 1,500 years. Samples of the moss were harvested from

Signy Island Signy Island is a small subantarctic island in the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. It was named by the Norwegian whaler Petter Sørlle (1884–1933) after his wife, Signy Therese. The island is about long and wide and rises to above s ...

in Antarctica using a coring drill and taken to the University of Reading for analysis. The core was cut into sections and exposed to light and temperature levels common to the regions in which the moss grows naturally. After three to eight weeks, depending on sample, new growth was visible. Convey said contamination was not a plausible explanation for the observed growth because only clean saws were used and because ''C. aciphyllum'' does not produce spores in the Antarctic region. The deepest (oldest) sample was dated between 1,533 and 1,697 years old using

radio-carbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...

techniques. The findings were published in ''

Current Biology ''Current Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers all areas of biology, especially molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, neurobiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The journal includes research articles, va ...

''. Previously, it was believed that a multi-cellular organism could only survive in a non-metabolic state of "suspended animation" known as

for a few decades. Cases of bacteria and other single-celled microbes were previously known. No moss had previously been documented to survive more than 20 years frozen, but moss stems frozen under

Teardrop Glacier A teardrop is a drop (liquid) of tears. Teardrop or Teardrops may also refer to: Biology * Vastus medialis, a muscle in the leg sometimes referred to as the teardrop muscle * A feature in X-rays of the pelvis Music Musical Groups * The Tea ...

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( iu, script=Latn, Umingmak Nuna, lit=land of muskoxen; french: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Bri ...

for 400 years had spawned new growth when ground up and placed in

petri dish A Petri dish (alternatively known as a Petri plate or cell-culture dish) is a shallow transparent lidded dish that biologists use to hold growth medium in which cells can be cultured,R. C. Dubey (2014): ''A Textbook Of Biotechnology For Class-X ...

es. Using complex cloning techniques, 31,000-year-old seeds of ''

Silene stenophylla ''Silene stenophylla'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. Commonly called narrow-leafed campion, it is a species in the genus ''Silene''. It grows in the Arctic tundra of far eastern Siberia and the mountains of north ...

'' were revived in 2012.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15328722 Hypnales Flora of Antarctica Flora of South Georgia Island Flora of Chile Flora of Argentina Flora of New Zealand 2014 in science