Comments on: Maize: The Genome Sequence Itself http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/2009/11/20/maize-the-genome-sequence-itself/ Genetics: Studying the Source Code of Nature Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:50:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: James http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/2009/11/20/maize-the-genome-sequence-itself/comment-page-1/#comment-4110 James Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:20:11 +0000 http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/?p=901#comment-4110 It's definitely a real possibility. I believe there's been some research which shows that stressing a plant increases the activity of intact transposons. Whether that's an evolutionary response to increase the chance of new beneficial mutations, or just a case of the plant being too busy to bother repressing all of it's selfish DNA, it's a possible explanation. But then the question would become: What in the last ten million years stressed corn's teosinte ancestors so much, for so long, that they accumulated 1-2 gigabases of repetitive sequence? It’s definitely a real possibility. I believe there’s been some research which shows that stressing a plant increases the activity of intact transposons. Whether that’s an evolutionary response to increase the chance of new beneficial mutations, or just a case of the plant being too busy to bother repressing all of it’s selfish DNA, it’s a possible explanation.

But then the question would become: What in the last ten million years stressed corn’s teosinte ancestors so much, for so long, that they accumulated 1-2 gigabases of repetitive sequence?

]]> By: Mary http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/2009/11/20/maize-the-genome-sequence-itself/comment-page-1/#comment-4108 Mary Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:11:27 +0000 http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/?p=901#comment-4108 Yeah, I know Trey has more qualified thoughts on this as he was a TE researcher in grad school. I was in a different lab so although I heard about his research all the time I wasn’t immersed. But I remember reading a paper a few months back that has had me thinking. Here’s the GenomeWeb story, <a href="http://www.genomeweb.com/informatics/genome-duplication-may-have-helped-plants-survive-mass-extinction" rel="nofollow">Genome Duplication May Have Helped Plants Survive Mass Extinction</a>. I’ve been wondering about plants shaking up their genomes in times of major stress. You could imagine turning on all your TEs as a crude way to shake up your genome (if you thought like that…). And maybe some fire up better under some stresses than others, or something….? I’m completely unencumbered by any data on this, and I’m not even caffeinated yet this morning, so maybe that makes no sense. But I wonder if there was a stressor involved? Yeah, I know Trey has more qualified thoughts on this as he was a TE researcher in grad school. I was in a different lab so although I heard about his research all the time I wasn’t immersed.

But I remember reading a paper a few months back that has had me thinking. Here’s the GenomeWeb story, Genome Duplication May Have Helped Plants Survive Mass Extinction.
I’ve been wondering about plants shaking up their genomes in times of major stress. You could imagine turning on all your TEs as a crude way to shake up your genome (if you thought like that…). And maybe some fire up better under some stresses than others, or something….?
I’m completely unencumbered by any data on this, and I’m not even caffeinated yet this morning, so maybe that makes no sense. But I wonder if there was a stressor involved?

]]> By: James http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/2009/11/20/maize-the-genome-sequence-itself/comment-page-1/#comment-4103 James Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:59:06 +0000 http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/?p=901#comment-4103 Now that we can answer the question "How Many?" I really want to know the answer to "Why?" especially since the evidence suggests rather than a gradual bloat, most of maize's transposons originated in one or a couple giant bursts of activity. Now that we can answer the question “How Many?” I really want to know the answer to “Why?” especially since the evidence suggests rather than a gradual bloat, most of maize’s transposons originated in one or a couple giant bursts of activity.

]]> By: Mary http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/2009/11/20/maize-the-genome-sequence-itself/comment-page-1/#comment-4102 Mary Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:57:49 +0000 http://www.jamesandthegiantcorn.com/?p=901#comment-4102 Trey and I were joking that corn is essentially a mechanism for transposable element delivery :) Trey and I were joking that corn is essentially a mechanism for transposable element delivery :)

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