The study of the complex evolution of this plant has revealed that the pineapple genome has at least one duplication of the entire grass genome. This means that this plant is the most suitable for analyzing all cereal crops, which share a common ancestor with pineapple .
Researchers at the University of Illinois and other institutions involved in genome sequencing have also discovered that, regarding photosynthesis (the process in which chlorophyll plants convert solar energy into chemical energy), pineapple uses a special form of photosynthesis called crassulaceae acid metabolism (CAM) that has evolved independently of more than 10,000 plant species .
In this special type of photosynthesis, plants use only 20% of the water used by the rest of the plants – cultivated – that use the most widespread photosynthesis called C3. This peculiarity allows them to grow in arid lands, in which most of them could not develop adequately.
As scientists have discovered, this CAM photosynthesis is regulated by the genes of the circadian clock of plants that, like that of humans, allow plants to differentiate between day and night and thus adjust their metabolism in the most appropriate way. ideal (closing the pores of its leaves during the day and opening them at night), helping them to lose as little moisture as possible in areas with arid and hot climates.
“All plants contain the genes necessary for CAM photosynthesis and the evolution of CAM simply requires diverting to pre-existing paths,” explains Ray Ming, leader of the work.
Thanks to this advance, scientists will be able to develop new varieties, more productive and more resistant to drought, of the crops essential for humanity.
The study has been published in the journal Nature Genetics .
