Hybridization in mosses, how distant it can be

M.S. Ignatov^1,2, O.I. Kuznetsova², E.A. Ignatova¹

¹M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Biological Faculty
119234 Moscow, Leninskie Gory, 1, Bldg. 12
²Central Botanical Garden, RAS
119234 Moscow, Botanicheskaya, 4

A literature review is presented, in which the published data on hybridization in mosses are discussed. In phenotype, interspecies hybridization in mosses is manifested, as a rule, through sporophyte texture in species demonstrating contrast constitution differences. Hybrid (or recombinant) character of game-tophytes can be detected using genetic markers. Although the whole number of studied hybrids is not so large, the observed proportion of intersectional, intergeneric, and even interfamily hybrids indicates the more widespread occurrence of distant hybridization in mosses as compared to vascular plants.