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On July 17, 2014, the world decided that he wanted to learn the genomic secrets hidden in the beautiful little floating fern, Azolla filiculoides . Not only did they want to know, but they also paid with a colossal amount of $ 22,160 from 123 lenders, thanks to a crowdfunding site.
Four years later, they have what they paid, and more. The project was supported at 147 percent of the budgeted goal that allowed researchers to sequence and analyze the first ever fern genome. With the additional funds, researchers could sequence a second fern, Salvinia cucullata .
Their results appear in the journal Nature Plants .
Fay-Wei Li, first author and professor at the Boyce Thompson Institute, began his quest for the genome Azolla as a graduate student researcher at Duke University. Kathleen Pryer, professor at Duke and last author on paper, was his Ph.D.
Pryer had been trying to fund the project for nearly two decades
"I was greeted with responses like" too unconventional "and" not important enough, "Pryer says. and Li ran an online campaign, which can be read more here, to get support for the project.
Eventually, their fundraising efforts attracted the attention of the Beijing Institute of Genomics (BGI) in Shenzhen, China. all their sequencing needs for free. With this additional support, and a collaboration forged with Henriette Schlupmann at the University of Utrecht, the researchers embarked on a four-year journey to explore the genome space of the unknown fern.
What is so special about it? Azolla has a really cool biology and an evolutionary history, "said Li." Azolla is in symbiosis with cyanobacteria for nitrogen fixation, and for that reason it has been used as green manure for paddy fields in Asia for hundreds of years. "
The researchers found that Azolla did not have the genes necessary for mycorrhizal symbiosis and nodular arbuscular roots more prevalent than water ferns can not establish.On the contrary, ferns contain several genes specific to their interaction with Nostoc the cyanobionte, whose genome had already been sequenced.
"Now that we have genomes available for fern and cyanobacteria, there is a promise to tap into the secrets of this natural biofertilizer that could contribute to future sustainable farming practices. es, "said Pryer.
A particularly exciting discovery for the research team has been the origin of an important insecticidal gene in recently isolated ferns. and transferred to cotton plants, where it provides outstanding protection against pests.
"When you enter a forest, it is usually very striking that ferns show little or no traces of insect damage." The team discovered that the insecticide gene is specific to the fern lineage, which is why most other plants do not have this resistance. In addition, they discovered that the gene probably appeared in a fern genome by horizontal gene transfer from a bacterium. "In other words, the ability of ferns to repel herbivorous insects is probably due to a genetic donation of bacteria" Li says:
With the first two complete genomes of fern at the tip of their fingers, researchers answered many questions, but discovered even more mysteries to study.
And what better way to unlock the secrets? 19659002] "We go fern atic to sequence more fern tastic genomes!" Li said. "As part of the 10K Plant Genomes project collaboration, we are working with BGI to strategically sample the fern tree of life for genome sequencing. We currently have about 10 species of ferns in the sequencing pipeline."
With a bit of public Kickstart, they went from zero to 10 in four years.
"Knowing that my small financial contribution was able to add to the fund of human knowledge astonishes me," said Lydia Marcell, who supported the project through crowdfunding. "Understanding these genes could provide solutions to some of the huge problems facing our planet today, and I am delighted to have been part of them."
"The approval and confirmation by the public and the media that our project was of significance has been a fantastic experience of awareness and learning for us," said Pryer. "It is very reassuring to discover first-hand that people care about pure science!"
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