Ginkgo biloba's footprint of dynamic Pleistocene history dates back only 390,000 years ago.
Nora HohmannEva M WolfPhilippe RigaultWenbin ZhouMarkus KieferYunpeng ZhaoCheng-Xin FuMarcus A KochPublished in: BMC genomics (2018)
Analysis of whole plastid genome sequence data representing the entire spatio-temporal genetic variation of wild extant Ginkgo populations revealed the deepest temporal footprint dating back to approximately 390,000 years ago. Present-day directional West-East admixture of genetic diversity is shown to be the result of pronounced effects of the last cooling period. Our evolutionary framework will serve as a conceptual roadmap for forthcoming genomic sequence data, which can then provide deep insights into the demographic history of Ginkgo.