Tomato Genome Reveals How it was Able to Beat the Dinosaurs
The news everyone has been anticipating…that’s right, the tomato genome has been sequenced! Plant geneticists from 14 countries spent the last 9 years working on the tomatoes’ behemoth genome, which contains over 31,000 genes…that’s more than us humans.
Wait…how can Heinz 1706 (that’s the variety of tomato they sequenced, yes, the one used for ketchup) have more genes than us, and still be, well, tomatoes?
Tomatoes (of course) are not more complex than humans, they merely use a different strategy for managing their genetics. Whereas humans use alternative splicing (gene segments rearranged in different ways to make new products), tomatoes ended up simply tripling their genome, keeping one copy for day to day affairs, and using the other two to mutate and rearrange and delete, allowing for fast adaptation to harsh environments. A good strategy when one is trying to survive an extinction…
Usually the triplication of a genome would be a considerable handicap, saddling a plant with three times as much DNA as it needs. But this event occurred around the time of the catastrophe in which the dinosaurs perished, and the extra genetic versatility may have been a lifesaver. “It’s easy to think that in that period, with a lot of volcanic activity and little sunlight, the reservoir of a lot of additional genes would be useful to a plant,” said Jim Giovannoni, a plant geneticist at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research in Ithaca, N.Y., who led the American contribution to the tomato genome report.
So what else have we learned from the tomato genome? Turns out the potato is one of it’s closest living relatives, showing 92% genetic similarity. Scientist’s hope to use the tomatoes genetic code to help cultivate longer lasting, redder, juicier, better tasting tomatoes.
Mash-Up
I spit the Word any time you hear ya boy flowin’
So please plagerize me, take my word for it.
I rub my eyes ‘cause it’s hard to see
Surrounded by all this beauty
I’m finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it’s okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say
-Lecrae, Mercy Me, and Owl City
