The potential of plant palaeogenomic research.
Ramos-Madrigal J
Summary
PubMedWhy it matters This matters because the ancient genetic blueprints being recovered from preserved plant remains could help breed tougher, more climate-resilient versions of the fruits, vegetables, and grains we rely on for food.
Researchers can now extract and read genetic information from ancient plant remains — think dried seeds or charred grain found at archaeological sites — and piece together how plants changed over time. This has already reshaped what we know about how humans first domesticated crops like wheat and rice. Even more exciting, scientists are starting to find plant DNA preserved in old lake sediments, which could let us study entire plant populations from long before farming even existed.
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Scientists are now able to study the ancient DNA of plants on a massive scale, revealing how crops were domesticated and how plants evolved over thousands of years. This field is opening doors to recovering lost genetic diversity that could help make our food crops more resilient.
Key Findings
The field has shifted in the last decade from studying a handful of genetic markers to reading complete, genome-wide data across multiple plant species simultaneously.
Ancient plant DNA can capture information about the microbes that lived alongside plants, offering a new way to study how plant-microbiome relationships co-evolved over deep time.
Environmental DNA preserved in ancient sediments may soon yield complete plant genomes, enabling study of plant population dynamics predating the origins of agriculture.
Abstract Preview
Plant palaeogenomics has transformed the way we study plant evolution. After a slow start, the last decade has seen a shift from the study of a few genomic markers to genome-wide data and complete ...
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