Oaks last 800 years with help of DNA double take

Oaks can survive for centuries despite facing a wide range of parasites and other threats. A genetic analysis suggests that the trees’ longevity may result from a double dose of genes that are associated with resistance to disease.

Christophe Plomion at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research in Bordeaux and his colleagues sequenced the genome of the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur), one of 450 oak species spread across Asia, Europe and the Americas. The team compared the oak genome with DNA sequences from other plants, including soya bean and peach, to trace the tree’s evolutionary history.

The researchers found that a significant proportion of the oak’s genes were duplicated between 60 million and 80 million years ago. Most duplicated regions contain disease-resistance genes, suggesting that these DNA stretches play an important part in oaks’ long lifespans.