# The more, the better? Stress response in related polyploid ferns

## TL;DR

This study examines how polyploid ferns respond to environmental stress compared to their diploid parents.

## Contribution

The study reveals that polyploid ferns do not show greater resilience to heat and drought than diploid species.

## Key findings

- Polyploid fern gametophytes did not show significant physiological advantages under stress.
- Diploid and polyploid species had similar stress responses to heat and drought.
- Results challenge the assumption that polyploidy enhances stress resilience in ferns.

## Abstract

Polyploidy, or whole genome duplication, is common in land plants. Polyploidy causes new gene combinations and is thought to provide an advantage amid the rising temperature and unpredictable precipitation regimes expected under climate change. Using related woodfern species, we investigated the gametophyte physiology of two parent species,
Dryopteris intermedia (2n)
and
Dryopteris expansa
(2n)
in comparison to their polyploid offspring,
Dryopteris campyloptera (4n)
. We subjected gametophytes from each species to environmentally stressful heat and drought conditions. Surprisingly, the polyploid did not exhibit a significant physiological advantage or greater resilience to stress compared to the diploid parents.