Multiple haploids, triploids, and tetraploids found in modern-day “living fossil” Ginkgo biloba

Abstract

Genetics: Mutant Ginkgos occur with surprising frequency The genetic abnormality, polyploidy, which underlies some unusual varieties of Ginkgo biloba, is more common than previously thought. Genome-wide duplications called polyploidies occur repeatedly in the evolution seed plants. The ancient Ginkgo tree, widely cultivated for its esthetic and medicinal properties, is one of the few seed plant species with a very long polyploidy-free evolutionary history. Yet, when Petr Smarda, of Masaryk University, in Brno, Czech Republic, and colleagues screened more than 2200 Ginkgo individuals and around 200 cultivars, they found 13 haploids, 3 triploids, and 10 tetraploids. These had unusual characteristics such as being shorter than normal and having especially small or large leaves. Improved understanding of the genetic mutations underlying these varieties could facilitate efforts to preserve them and help accelerate diversification of this ancient and nearly extinct plant lineage.