Low number of fixed somatic mutations in a long-lived oak tree.
Emanuel Schmid-SiegertNamrata SarkarChristian IseliSandra CalderonCaroline Gouhier-DarimontJacqueline ChrastPietro CattaneoFrédéric SchützLaurent FarinelliMarco PagniMichel SchneiderJérémie VoumardMichel JaboyedoffChristian FankhauserChristian S HardtkeLaurent KellerJohn R PannellAlexandre ReymondMarc Robinson-RechaviIoannis XenariosPhilippe ReymondPublished in: Nature plants (2017)
Because plants do not possess a defined germline, deleterious somatic mutations can be passed to gametes, and a large number of cell divisions separating zygote from gamete formation may lead to many mutations in long-lived plants. We sequenced the genome of two terminal branches of a 234-year-old oak tree and found several fixed somatic single-nucleotide variants whose sequential appearance in the tree could be traced along nested sectors of younger branches. Our data suggest that stem cells of shoot meristems in trees are robustly protected from the accumulation of mutations.