Scientists Discover a Clonal Seagrass (Zostera marina) in the Baltic Sea with a Lifespan of Up to 1,400 Years.
An international research team from Kiel, London, Oldenburg, and Davis, California, has successfully used a groundbreaking genetic clock to determine the age of a clonal seagrass in the Baltic Sea. For the first time, they have identified a clonal seagrass from the Baltic Sea that dates back 1,400 years. This new clock has the potential to be applied to various species, including corals, algae, and many terrestrial plants. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, as reported by IFL Science on June 14.
Clonal seagrass in the Baltic Sea. (Photo: Pekka Tuuri).
“Asexual reproduction (also known as cloning) is a common alternative reproductive method in animals, fungi, and the plant kingdom,” said Dr. Thorsten Reusch, a professor of marine ecology at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research in Kiel. Clonal plants produce offspring with similar genetic makeup through branching or sprouting, often covering an area the size of a football field or more. However, the offspring are not genetically identical.
Previous research by the GEOMAR team indicated that somatic mutations accumulate in clonal offspring, a process similar to cancer. Now, the experts, led by Professor Reusch, Dr. Benjamin Werner from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), and Professor Iliana Baums from the Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity at the University of Oldenburg (HIFMB), have utilized this mutation accumulation process to develop a molecular clock capable of accurately determining the age of any clonal plant.
Reusch and colleagues applied the new clock to a global dataset of Zostera marina, which is distributed throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean Seas. Notably in Northern Europe, the research team found clonal plants that were several hundred years old, comparable to large oak trees.
The oldest identified clonal plant is 1,402 years old and originates from the Baltic Sea. This seagrass has attained such an old age in a harsh and ever-changing environment. This finding makes the clonal seagrass older than Greenland sharks or Quahog clams, which only live for a few hundred years. The research team hopes that the genetic clock they developed could provide a tool for accurately calculating the age of clonal plants.
