Genome Duplication Secret to Plant Regeneration

Scientists have found out how plants regenerate after being munched by grazing animals. They report that a plant can dramatically rebound after being cut down because of a process called genome duplication, in which individual cells make multiple copies of all their genetic content. This process has been known to researchers and scientists for decades, but few have pondered its purpose.

University of Illinois animal biology professor Ken Paige and postdoctoral researcher Daniel Scholes conducted a study on genome duplication and used Arabidopsis plants. They crossed plants that can duplicate their genomes with those that lacked this ability. According to Scholes, if the relationship between DNA duplication and regeneration was only a coincidence, the association between the two should disappear in their offspring, but they found out that the association persisted in the offspring.

Scholes said that genome duplication enlarges cells and provides more copies of individual genes, likely increasing the production of key proteins and other molecules that drive cell growth. Future studies will test these ideas, he said.

For details, read the news release available at:
http://news.illinois.edu/news/14/1111chromosomes_KenPaige.html.