(ANSAmed) - MADRID, FEBRUARY 3 - Sponges and turtles that are
the only long-living natural species, as there is also space in
the category for Posidonia Oceanica, an underwater plant that is
vital for the Mediterranean ecosystem and that has been around
for time immemorial. This is according to research by Spain's
Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), which has found a
clone of a 100,000-year old form of Posidonia. The key to the
longevity of the species, researches say, lies in its clonal
growth, which Posidonia shares with the other angiosperms or
superior plants with underground flowers. This process is based
on the continuing division of regions that are the setting for
the production of new cells and buds that grow "at an extremely
low rate" of around one centimeter a year, say scientists from
the CSIC.
In order to draw such conclusions, researchers gathered samples from fifty posidonia patches in the Mediterranean, from Cyprus to the Spanish coast of Almeria. After studying the sequence of plants, they found that many clones or genotypes are to be found in patches located as much as 10 kilometres away from one another. According to the CSIC's Carlos Duarte, one of the authors of the research, this suggests that the species has "great phenotypic plasticity", which means that genotypes can adapt to the local variations of resources, enacting their own method of growth. As a result, in the regions that are poorest in nutritional elements, such as the Mediterranean, growth will be slower, roots will reach a greater length and leaves are thinner and longer to increase their efficiency. Research into the age of clonal organisms shows that they are responsible for more than half of the primary production of the biosphere and paves the way for a study of the potential ecological and evolutional implications, not least the rejection of the idea that posidonia is a species threatened or at risk of extinction in its most delicate of ecosystems. (ANSAmed).
In order to draw such conclusions, researchers gathered samples from fifty posidonia patches in the Mediterranean, from Cyprus to the Spanish coast of Almeria. After studying the sequence of plants, they found that many clones or genotypes are to be found in patches located as much as 10 kilometres away from one another. According to the CSIC's Carlos Duarte, one of the authors of the research, this suggests that the species has "great phenotypic plasticity", which means that genotypes can adapt to the local variations of resources, enacting their own method of growth. As a result, in the regions that are poorest in nutritional elements, such as the Mediterranean, growth will be slower, roots will reach a greater length and leaves are thinner and longer to increase their efficiency. Research into the age of clonal organisms shows that they are responsible for more than half of the primary production of the biosphere and paves the way for a study of the potential ecological and evolutional implications, not least the rejection of the idea that posidonia is a species threatened or at risk of extinction in its most delicate of ecosystems. (ANSAmed).
