Plants Balance Adaptability in Skin Cells with Stability in Sex Cells
Mutations drive evolution, but they can also be risky. New research led by plant biologists at the University of California, Davis, published Nov. 10 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals how plants control mutation rates in different stem cells to balance adaptability with safety and stability. The findings have implications for breeding some of the world’s most important fruit and vegetable crops, such as potatoes and bananas.
The researchers showed that DNA mutations accumulated up to 4.5 times more frequently in the stem cells that produce a plant’s skin compared to stem cells that produce eggs and sperm. These results show how plants prioritize maintaining a stable genome for their offspring while allowing greater flexibility and adaptability in other cell types and, by extension, in adult plants.