Genome of a Salt-secreting Mangrove Species Decoded
- July 12, 2021
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Genome of a Salt-secreting Mangrove Species Decoded
Subject: Environment
Context: Recently, the scientists at the DBT-Institute of Life Sciences and SRM-DBT Partnership Platform for Advanced Life Sciences Technologies have decoded the genome of a Salt-secreting Mangrove Species ‘Avicennia marina’.
Concept:
About Avicennia Marina
- It is one of the most prominent mangroves species found in all mangrove formations in India.
- It is a salt-secreting and extraordinarily salt-tolerant mangrove species that grows optimally in 75% seawater and tolerates >250% seawater.
- It is among the rare plant species, which can excrete 40% of the salt through the salt glands in the leaves.
- It extraordinary feature is its capacity to exclude salt entry to the roots.
Key Highlights of Genome Decoding
- It reports the assemblage of a 456.6 Mb of the estimated 462.7 Mb A. marina genome (98.7% genome coverage) in 31 chromosomes derived from 88 scaffolds and 252 contigs.
- The percentage of genomes in gaps was 0.26%, thereby proving it to be a high-level assembly.
- The A. marina genome assembled can be considered as a reference-grade genome reported so far for any mangrove species globally and the first report from India.
- It identified 31,477 protein-coding genes and a “salinome” consisting of 3246 salinity-responsive genes and homologs of 614 experimentally validated salinity tolerance genes.
- The study reported identification of 614 genes, including 159 transcription factors, which are homologous to the genes that were functionally validated for salinity tolerance in transgenic systems.
About Mangroves
- They are a unique group of species found in marshy intertidal estuarine regions and survive a high degree of salinity through several adaptive mechanisms.
- They only grow at tropical and subtropical latitudes near the equator because they cannot withstand freezing temperatures.
- They are the only trees in the world that can tolerate saltwater, excreting the excess salt through their leaves.