A large genome is a good genome

Recently a study shows variation in genome size may be much more important than we throught before. It is obvious that sometimes, a large genome is a good genome. The study was led by researchers at Uppsala University.

"Our study shows that females with larger genome lay more eggs and males with larger genome fertilize more eggs", says research leader G?ran Arnqvist, Professor of Animal Ecology at Uppsala University.

The amount of nuclear DNA per cell, or the size of the genome, varies by orders of magnitude across organisms. We know not too much about the evolutionary forces that are responsible for this variation. the evolutionary forces that are responsible for this variation. For unknown reasons, there are simple plants with a genome almost 50 times as large and grasshoppers with a genome 5 times as large as our own! In fact, the insects with the smallest and largest genomes differ by a factor of 200, yet they all look and act like typical insects.

There are two viewpoints about dramatic differences in biology.

The first suggests that variation in genome size is made up by "junk" DNA that has little bearing on organismal function and that random processes determine genome size.

While the second suggests that the amount of DNA matters and that natural selection shapes genome size. The study of seed beetles now present evidence suggesting that natural selection may be more important.

The study of seed beetles was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Welcome to read more about the interesting study.

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