By Mark
KinverEnvironment reporter, BBC News
The genetic
data gives biologists a glimpse into the distant past when flowering plants
first appeared
The
"extraordinary level of conservation" of genetic data in the tulip
tree remains largely unchanged since the dinosaurs, a study suggests.
The species'
genomic change is about 2,000 times slower than in humans, making it a
"molecular fossil", a team of US researchers said.
The new
information has affected our understanding of flowering plants' evolution, they
added.
The team from
the universities of Indiana and Arkansas sequenced the
mitochondrial genome of the species (Liriodendron tulipifera), only to discover
it had one of the slowest silent mutation rates (a process that does not affect
gene function).
They added
that the sequencing showed that many of the genes that had been lost during 200
million years of flowering plants' (angiosperms) evolution had been preserved.
"Based on
this, it appears that the genome has been more-or-less frozen in time for
millions and millions of years," explained co-author Prof Jeffrey Palmer.
Prehistoric
powerhouses
Mitochondria
are found within organisms' cells and their job is to generate power. They do
this by converting food stuffs into chemical energy that the organism uses to
function.
Posts
