Scientists Discover Ancient DNA “Switches” Hidden in Plants for 400 Million Years
Researchers mapped over 2.3 million conserved regulatory “switches” across plant genomes — some more than 400 million years old — building an atlas that could aid future crop breeding.
Scientists have mapped millions of ancient genetic “switches” in plants — some over 400 million years old — that quietly govern how plant genes behave.
The short version
- Researchers identified over 2.3 million conserved non-coding sequences acting as regulatory switches across plants.
- Some date back more than 400 million years, predating flowering plants.
- The team (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and collaborators) compared 314 genomes from 284 species using a tool called Conservatory.
- The switches keep a consistent genomic order even as spacing changes, and new ones evolve from old.
Why it matters
The resulting regulatory atlas could aid crop breeding for drought resistance and food security. The study was published in Science.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at ScienceDaily via the links above and below.