A multinational group of researchers discovered a fern that has the largest
genome on Earth. Their findings provide new opportunities for studying how
genomic gigantism has evolved.



Vascular plants attract the interest of researchers due to their exceptional
genome size diversity. Present data indicate that large genomes are
constrained throughout the eukaryotes, but the biological limitations to
genome size expansion have yet to be determined.



Scientists from Institut Bot?nic de Barcelona and partners found the New
Caledonian folk fern (Tmesipteris oblanceolata) on a remote Pacific island,
which has a genome size of 160.45 Gbp/1C. The fork fern's genome is more
than 50 times bigger than the human genome and 7% larger than the canopy
plant (Paris japonica), which has the previous record for the largest genome
around the globe. Due to this discovery, the Guinness World Record was
recently awarded to folk fern for its extraordinary genome size.



[www.cell.com]
s%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2589004224011118%3Fsho
wall%3Dtrue#secsectitle0030