Genes may travel from plant to plant to fuel evolution
Friday, February 17, 2012 - 17:30
in Biology & Nature
Evolutionary biologists have documented for the first time that plants pass genes from plant to plant to fuel their evolutionary development. The researchers found enzymes key to photosynthesis had been shared among plants with only a distant ancestral relationship. The genes were incorporated into the metabolic cycle of the recipient plant, aiding adaptation.