Thursday, 18 March 2021

Gene Dispenser

Sapria himalayana (a relative of the world's largest flower, Rafflesia arnoldi) is a parasitic plant, taking its nutriment from host vines (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/17/sapria-stinking-parasitic-plant-another-odd-feature-lost-genes). Like Rafflesia, it is only obvious, when it produces a large plate-like flower, looking and smelling like carrion. This rotting flesh impersonation serves to attract flies, which help with pollination. Sapria has none of the components you would associate with a typical plant. More remarkably, it has also dispensed with almost 44% of the genes normally found in a plant. As Sapria doesn't engage in photosynthesis, it has even eliminated all the remnants of chloroplasts. Other parasitic plants also junk genes but Sapria is currently the most extreme case.

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