Researchers at the Institute of Plant Genetics have succeeded in gaining valuable insights into the genome of white berried mistletoe (Viscum album).
Since the plant's genome, with 90 billion nucleotides, is about 30 times as large as that of humans, it had not been fully analysed until now. The team led by Lucie Schröder (M. Sc.), Prof. Hans-Peter Braun and Prof. Helge Küster was now able to decode coding parts of the DNA indirectly. They isolated the RNA from which the mistletoe proteins are translated and transcribed it into DNA with the help of enzymes. The resulting shorter DNA molecules could then be systematically examined with a sequence analysis.
The more than 39,000 gene sequences determined provide detailed information about which proteins are found in mistletoe and what metabolic services the plant performs.
White-berried mistletoe grows as a semi-parasite on trees and has a long tradition as a medicinal plant. The researchers also hope to gain further insights into the plant's special resistance and its particular respiratory mechanism. The results of the research project were published in the British journal The Plant Journal, 109(1): 278-294.
