How Genome Size Constrains Plant Ecology and Distribution
The amount of DNA in each cell of an organism, called the ‘genome size’, varies enormously between species. Indeed, in flowering plants, the largest genome known (Paris japonica) is ~2,400 fold bigger than the smallest (Genlisea tuberosa), yet both species have broadly the same number of genes. In this Linnean Society talk, Professor Andrew Leitch will show how huge difference in the total bulk of DNA has consequences for how and where a plant can live. Nutrient experiments in UK (running > 150 years), Germany (running > 70 years), Inner Mongolia (~5 years) and from the Nutrient Network (NutNet), a global coordination of grassland fertilizer experiments all show that species with large genomes are favoured in the presence of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers. Overall, these results reveal that genome size plays a role in shaping plant communities dependent upon, nutrients, temperature, and precipitation.
Time: 18:00 GMT
