Natural transgenes could help plants adapt to local conditions
Can "borrowed" genes contribute to ecological adaptation in plants? A recently published article by researchers from Lund University suggests that this may be the case.Transgenes are genes that have moved from a donor to a recipient organism in the absence of sexual reproduction. Whereas the genetic modification of crop species involves the deliberate creation of transgenes, there are an increasing number of discoveries of natural transgenes. The study that is now presented by scientists from Lund University has a unique focus, combining ecological field data from wild populations with