It's no secret that some people at one time cheated on the exam and cheated from a neighbor on the desk. It turns out that there are similar "sins" behind the plants.
Scientists from the University of Sheffield have found evidence that certain herbaceous plant species steal genes from their neighbors, a trick that helps them adapt effectively, bypassing millions of years of evolution.
Traditionally, gene transfer occurs "vertically," that is, children inherit them from their parents. Meanwhile, some organisms can transfer genes horizontally. This process is called horizontal gene transfer (LGT), in which an individual transfers genetic material to a non-descendant organism.
Perhaps the most famous example of this is demonstrated by some bacteria that thus develop antibiotic resistance.
Recently, experts have found out that plants also resort to this trick.
British scientists studied the genome of the herbaceous plant species Alloteropsis semialata, found throughout Africa, Asia and Australia, and then compared it with the genomes of 150 other plant species, including rice, corn and barley.
The similarity of some DNA sequences indicated that they were acquired by plants from their natural neighbors.
According to him, herbs simply steal genes and use the shortest evolutionary path.
“They act like a sponge, absorbing useful genetic information from their neighbors in order to compete with their relatives and survive in hostile habitats without spending the millions of years normally required to develop such adaptations,” says Dunning.
According to the study, Alloteropsis semialata was not the only herbaceous species to use the same technique.
At first glance, it may seem that there is nothing wrong with this: horizontal gene transfer helps the plant to "improve its position."
However, as is often the case, the coin has two sides. Experts point out that wild grasses can duplicate certain genes from genetically modified crops, allowing laboratory additives to "escape" into the wild.
Today, scientists are taking many precautions to prevent the loss of control over GM organisms, and the process described above could turn the whole thing off. This could potentially damage ecosystems.
The work will also help scientists understand how genes are passed from GM crops to wild species or other non-GM crops, Dunning said, and develop measures to reduce the likelihood of this happening.
So far, scientists cannot answer the question of how exactly this happens. Understanding this process can help researchers reduce the risk of genes leaking from GM crops and creating so-called superweeds (this could very well happen if genes from GM crops get into local wild plants, making them resistant to herbicides).
