Plant biologists have withdrawn a study on linkurl:__Arabidopsis thaliana__;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/54194/ evolution published in a 2004 issue of __Science__, saying one of its conclusions was marred by contamination, according to a retraction appearing today (Apr. 10) in the journal. The original linkurl:paper,;http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/306/5704/2081 authored by then North Carolina State University genomicist linkurl:Michael Purugganan;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/13399/ and a team of international colleagues, suggested self-pollination had evolved in __A. thaliana__ after a period of rapid evolution - or a selective sweep - after the most recent ice age. It has been cited more than 40 times, according to ISI. The team pulled the paper because of "spurious PCR amplification by the primers and/or by DNA contaminations," according to the published retraction. Purugganan told __The Scientist__ that in four out of the 21 __A. thaliana__ samples the team genotyped, DNA contamination caused PCR primers to amplify a gene allele (__ΨSCR1__) that in actuality was absent from a particular...
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