New research reveals how Ginkgo biloba trees can grow for thousands of years.
(…) Some forest giants, like the Ginkgo biloba, can live more than 3000 years. Now, in the most comprehensive plant aging study to date, researchers have revealed the molecular mechanisms that allow the ginkgo—and perhaps other trees – to survive so long.
The new study provides the first real genetic evidence for something scientists have long suspected: “The default condition in plants is immortality,” says Howard Thomas, a plant biologist from Aberystwyth University (…).
The new study provides the first real genetic evidence for something scientists have long suspected: “The default condition in plants is immortality,” says Howard Thomas, a plant biologist from Aberystwyth University (…).
(…) Examining the growth rings, Li Wang, a plant molecular biologist at Yangzhou University, and colleagues discovered that the ginkgos’ growth didn’t slow down after hundreds of years—in fact, their growth rates sometimes sped up. What’s more, the leaf size, photosynthetic ability, and seed quality of the trees—all indicators of health—didn’t differ with age.
organs such as leaves perish, the trees themselves are unlikely to die in old age, they report today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
(…) …although organs such as leaves perish, the trees themselves are unlikely to die in old age, they report today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
(…)
Not needing to worry about growing old is “something that for humans is difficult to understand,” says plant physiologist Sergi Munné-Bosch of the University of Barcelona (…). “Aging is not a problem for this species,” he says. “The most important problem that they have to deal with is stress.”
Erin Malsbury, In Science Mag, 13th January, 2020
[selection by mariaQi]
Complete article in: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/01/how-ginkgo-biloba-achieves-near-immortality?fbclid=IwAR3v7gFWKH3e1TS409fKc0AUcv_i_q7y1TUbOWaVtOyC7_EFRBbcZXGEh50