How Plants Colonize the Base of An Active Stratovolcano
Published:23 May2022 Source:Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
New research in plants that colonized the base of an active stratovolcano reveals that two simple molecular steps rewired nutrient transport, enabling adaptation.
An international team led by Angela Hancock at the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne (Germany) and including scientists from the Associação Projecto Vitó and Parque Natural do Fogo(Cape Verde), the University of Nottingham (UK), and the University of Bochum (Germany) studied a wild thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) population that colonized the base of an active stratovolcano. They found that a two-step molecular process rewired nutrient transport in the population. The findings, published today in the journal Science Advances, reveal an exceptionally clear case of an adaptive walk in a wild population. The discovery has broader implications for evolutionary biology and crop improvement.