Summary: The Lolblolly Pine is probably the most commercially important tree in the United States because it is used in paper and bio fuels. Researchers wanted to sequence the genome so that they could make the fuel more efficient. The only problem is that the genome is seven times longer than the human genome. The technology that we had was not working so a team of scientists from the University of Maryland made a program that would pre-process the sequential data so that it makes sense. The program worked and scientists were able to assemble the sequence. Through this research they found that the tree grows so big because it is so full of genetic material.
NOS Themes: Some themes were collaboration and motivation
The collaboration was between University of California ,Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland who each did a little of the sequencing. The motivation is that even though it was seven times longer than the human genome they were motivated to finish.
The summary leads me to believe that if a tree has more genetic material, it will grow taller. This leads me to being very curious about the genetic material of Redwoods. Redwoods are known for being gigantic trees in California. The tallest living Redwood is 379 feet tall while a normal Loblolly does not even reach one third of that height with an average 115 feet. What does this mean for the genomes of Redwoods? Could they have three times as much genetic material, or is the relationship much more complicated? Or is it simply because Redwoods grow to be thousands of years old?
ReplyDeleteI went in to deeper research on the sequencing of Redwoods and if there is a relationship between the length of the sequence, and the height of the tree. What I found right away is that scientists have strayed away from studying the giant because of the complexity of it's sequence. Humans are "diploids," but Redwoods are known to be "hexaploids." What they found in this particular study may be a key to the tree living so long and growing so tall. They believe that Redwoods may be the most genetically diverse of all the conifers. The test had a small sample size, so it is still prelimenary, but it leads to a few good answers and points for study. To read more on the study I discussed, check this out: http://www.savetheredwoods.org/what-we-do/study/researchgrants_detail.php?id=52
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