Discover the tree with the largest set of genes

A rare plant species in Japan with scientific name Paris japonica carries on it the largest genome ever known.

The Paris japonica plant has the largest set of genes. (Photo: Alpsdake / Wikimedia)

Genome or genome is a collection containing all the genetic information of an organism encoded in DNA.

New research by scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew in the UK says Paris japonica has a DNA content of 152.23 picograms (pg), 15% more than the record holder with a large genome The first was the lung fish Protopterus aethiopicus with 132.83 pg (1 pg = 10-12 g).

The genome is 50 times larger than the human genome (only 3 pg).

According to the researchers, if spread out, the genome of this plant may be higher than the Big Ben tower (96m).

However, the researcher of Ilia Leitch genome - working at the Jodrell Laboratory at the Royal Kew Botanical Garden - warned that plants that contain a lot of DNA are at risk of extinction, making it difficult to survive the land problem. polluted or at the extreme of the weather (such as desert) and growing slower than plants that contain less DNA because it takes a long time to regenerate the genome.