A study published by Universit\u00e9 Laval researchers and their colleagues from the Canadian Forest Service reveals that the genome of conifers such as spruce, pine, and fir has remained very much the same for over 100 million years.<\/p>\n
This remarkable genomic stability explains the resemblance between today\u2019s conifers and fossils dating back to the days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Details of this finding are presented in a recent issue of the journal BMC Biology<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The team supervised by Professor Jean Bousquet, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Forest and Environmental Genomics, came to this conclusion after analyzing the genome of conifers and comparing it to that of flowering plants. Both plant groups stem from the same ancestor but diverged some 300 million years ago.<\/p>\n Researchers compared the genome macrostructure for 157 gene families present both in conifers and flowering plants. They observed that the genome of conifers has remained particularly stable for at least 100 million years, while that of flowering plants has undergone major changes in the same period. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean there haven\u2019t been smaller scale modifications such as genetic mutations,\u201d points out Jean Bousquet. \u201cHowever, the macrostructure of the conifer genome has been remarkably stable over the ages,\u201d adds the professor from the Universit\u00e9 Laval Faculty of Forestry, Geography, and Geomatics.<\/p>\n This great stability goes hand in hand with the low speciation rate of conifers. The world is currently home to only 600 species of conifers, while there are over 400,000 species of flowering plants. \u201cConifers appear to have achieved a balance with their environment very early,\u201d remarks Professor Bousquet. \u201cStill today, without artifice, these plants thrive over much of the globe, particularly in cold climates. In contrast, flowering plants are under intense evolutionary pressure as they battle for survival and reproduction,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to Bousquet, the study\u2019s coauthors are Nathalie Pavy, Betty Pelgas, J\u00e9r\u00f4me Laroche, Philippe Rigault, and Nathalie Isabel.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n This project was made possible thanks to the financial support of Genome Canada, G\u00e9nome Qu\u00e9bec, Natural Resources Canada, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n -30-<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n Jean Bousquet<\/p>\n Faculty of Forestry, Geography, and Geomatics<\/p>\n Universit\u00e9 Laval<\/p>\n 418-656-3493<\/p>\n