The Institut Mediterrani d’Estudis Avançats (Imedea) will lead a scientific project to “unravel” the genome of the Posidonia Oceanica. Better knowledge of this key plant in the Mediterranean will allow “better protection of these ecosystems and manage them with a deeper knowledge than we have now,” said Gotzon Basterretxea, director of Imedea yesterday.
The project Posigenome will sequence the complete genome of Posidonia for the first time. “We want to understand the metabolic processes that determine its germination, flowering and root development,” said Basterretxea. “The project is starting now, but in December the first plants will start to be harvested to work with,” Basterretxea said.
This research, which will last until 2024, will enable the genetic variability of the different Mediterranean grasslands to be fully analysed and compared, and will also provide new knowledge about their evolutionary history.
The initiative could therefore identify whether there are populations of Posidonia oceanica that are more resistant than others and which are the most vulnerable, and could provide data on how the different variants react to certain environmental conditions.
The Posigenome project hopes to discover whether there are plants that are more resistant than others and which are the most vulnerable
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