[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

Thomas Massie NAMES Epstein as a CIA and Israeli Asset How Chickens See the World (Its CRAZIER Than You Think) You remember TommyTheMadArtist? Joe Rogan on the Belgian Malinois Democrat New Mexico Governor Admits National Guard Making Progress In High-Crime Albuquerque Florida banning vaccine mandates To Prevent Strokes, Take Potassium. Lawyer for Epstein VICTIMS Shares Details Trump FEARED THE MOST WW3? French Hospitals Told To Prepare For A "Major Military Engagement" Within Six Months The Zionist Experiment Is Over Sen. Tim Kaine: ‘Extremely Troubling’ to Say Natural Rights Are from God Israel & The Assassination Of The Kennedy Brothers JEWISH RITUAL MURDER (Documentary) The Pakistani mayor of Rotherham claims she proud to be British and proud to be Pakistani. Khe Sanh 1968 How U.S. Marines Faced the Siege in Vietnam Did Xi's Parade Flip The Script On US Defense Of Taiwan? Cascade Volcanoes Show Weird Pulse Without Warning – Mount Rainier Showing Signs of Trouble! Cash Jordan: Chicago Apartments RAIDED... ICE 'Forcibly Evicts' Illegal Squatters at 3AM We are FINALLY turning the tide on 9/11 - The TRUTH is coming out | Redacted w Clayton Morris Netanyahu SHAKEN as New Hostage Video DESTROYS IDF Lies! We are FINALLY turning the tide on 9/11 VIDEO Shocking Video Shows Ukrainian Refugee Fatally Stabbed On Charlotte Train By Career Criminal Man Identifies as Cat to Cop his video made her stop consuming sugar. Shot And Bothered - Restored Classic Coyote & Road Runner Looney Tunes Cartoon 1966 How to Prove the Holocaust is a Hoax in Under 2 Minutes ..And The Legacy Media Wonders Why Nobody Trusts Them "The Time For Real Change Is Now!" - Conor McGregor Urges Irish To Lobby Councillors For Presidential Bid Daniela Cambone: Danger Not Seen in 40+ Years Tucker Carlson: Whistleblower Exposes the Real Puppet Masters Controlling the State Department

Science/Tech
See other Science/Tech Articles

Title: Ancient Seagrass Holds Secrets of the Oldest Living Organism On Earth
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120207152545.htm
Published: Feb 8, 2012
Author: staff
Post Date: 2012-02-08 01:01:17 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 148
Comments: 1

ScienceDaily (Feb. 7, 2012) — It's big, it's old and it lives under the sea -- and now an international research collaboration with The University of Western Australia's Ocean's Institute has confirmed that an ancient seagrass holds the secrets of the oldest living organism on Earth.

Ancient giant Posidonia oceanica reproduces asexually, generating clones of itself. A single organism -- which has been found to span up to 15 kilometres in width and reach more than 6,000 metric tonnes in mass -- may well be more than 100,000 years old.

"Clonal organisms have an extraordinary capacity to transmit only 'highly competent' genomes, through generations, with potentially no end," said Director of UWA's Oceans' Institute Winthrop Professor Carlos Duarte.

Researchers analysed 40 meadows across 3,500 kilometres of the Mediterranean sea. Computer models helped demonstrate that the clonal spread mode of Posidonia oceanica, which as all other seagrasses can reproduce both sexually and asexually, allows them to spread and maintain highly competent clones over millennia, whereas even the most competent genotypes of organisms that can only reproduce sexually are lost at every generation.

"Understanding why those particular genomes have been so adaptable to a broad range of environmental conditions for so long is the key to some interesting future research," Professor Duarte said.

Seagrasses are the foundation of key coastal ecosystems but have waned globally for the past 20 years. Posidonia oceanica meadows are now declining at an estimated rate of five per cent annually.

"The concern is that while Posidonia oceanica meadows have thrived for millennia their current decline suggests they may no longer be able to adapt to the unprecedented rate of global climate change."

The genus Posidonia occurs only in the Mediterranean and Australian waters.

The findings have been published in the online journal PLoS ONE.

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  

#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)

Dang.

randge  posted on  2012-02-08   6:33:16 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]