Desiccation Tolerance in Moss and Liverwort: Insights into the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Terrestrialization

Ghosh, Totan Kumar; Nazran, Anika; Khan, Imran; Naimul Islam, Shah Mohammad; Islam, Tofazzal; Xu, Yuan; Mostofa, Mohammad Golam

doi:10.3390/ijms27010478

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Open AccessReview

Desiccation Tolerance in Moss and Liverwort: Insights into the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Terrestrialization

by

Totan Kumar Ghosh

¹,

Anika Nazran

¹,

Imran Khan

²,

Shah Mohammad Naimul Islam

³

,

Tofazzal Islam

³

,

Yuan Xu

^4,*

and

Mohammad Golam Mostofa

^2,*

¹

Department of Crop Botany, Gazipur Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh

²

Department of Chemistry, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA

³

Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Gazipur Agricultural University, Gazipur 1706, Bangladesh

⁴

MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(1), 478; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27010478

Submission received: 21 November 2025 / Revised: 20 December 2025 / Accepted: 30 December 2025 / Published: 2 January 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring Abiotic Stress in Plants: Mechanisms, Adaptations, and Mitigation Strategies (2nd Edition))

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Abstract

As a monophyletic group, bryophytes—mosses, liverworts, and hornworts—represent some of the earliest land plants, evolving under harsh terrestrial conditions that prompted major morphological, physiological, and molecular changes. Limited water availability, extreme temperatures, and osmotic stresses often caused cellular desiccation in these pioneering plants. Because bryophytes occupy a key position in land-plant evolution and are closely related to streptophyte algae, their desiccation-tolerance strategies hold significant evolutionary importance. Early adaptations included changes in growth patterns and the formation of specialized vegetative structures. Bryophytes also survive extreme habitats by regulating physiological and biochemical traits such as photosynthetic pigment maintenance, osmotic adjustment, membrane stability, redox balance, and the accumulation of compatible solutes and stress-responsive proteins. Advances in molecular biology and whole-genome sequencing of model mosses and liverworts have further revealed that they possess diverse stress-responsive signaling components, including phytohormones, receptor proteins, protein kinases, and key transcription factors that control stress-related gene expression. However, a comprehensive synthesis of these molecular mechanisms is still lacking. This review aims to provide an updated overview of how mosses and liverworts use plant growth regulators, stress-responsive proteins, compatible solutes, antioxidants, and integrated signaling networks to survive in dry terrestrial environments.

Keywords: bryophytes; desiccation tolerance; adaptation; evolution; growth regulators

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MDPI and ACS Style

Ghosh, T.K.; Nazran, A.; Khan, I.; Naimul Islam, S.M.; Islam, T.; Xu, Y.; Mostofa, M.G. Desiccation Tolerance in Moss and Liverwort: Insights into the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Terrestrialization. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27, 478. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27010478

AMA Style

Ghosh TK, Nazran A, Khan I, Naimul Islam SM, Islam T, Xu Y, Mostofa MG. Desiccation Tolerance in Moss and Liverwort: Insights into the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Terrestrialization. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2026; 27(1):478. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27010478

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ghosh, Totan Kumar, Anika Nazran, Imran Khan, Shah Mohammad Naimul Islam, Tofazzal Islam, Yuan Xu, and Mohammad Golam Mostofa. 2026. "Desiccation Tolerance in Moss and Liverwort: Insights into the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Terrestrialization" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 27, no. 1: 478. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27010478

APA Style

Ghosh, T. K., Nazran, A., Khan, I., Naimul Islam, S. M., Islam, T., Xu, Y., & Mostofa, M. G. (2026). Desiccation Tolerance in Moss and Liverwort: Insights into the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Terrestrialization. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 27(1), 478. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27010478

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Desiccation Tolerance in Moss and Liverwort: Insights into the Evolutionary Mechanisms of Terrestrialization

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